Patent Publication Number: US-2009233696-A1

Title: Offline payout system and method

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
     This disclosure relates to offline payout systems and, more particularly, to offline payout systems that process winnings when a casino management system is offline. 
     BACKGROUND  
     In today&#39;s casino gaming environment, electronic gaming devices or electronic gaming machines (EGMs) are increasingly used in ticket-in-ticket-out (i.e., TITO) systems. 
     A TITO system involves electronic gaming devices (e.g., a slot machine) that are connected to a network and communicate with a casino management system over the network. In a TITO system, the electronic gaming devices typically accept cash, but do not dispense cash winnings. Instead, the electronic gaming device prints out a piece of paper (i.e., a ticket) that may be inserted for credit on other electronic gaming devices or may be redeemed for cash either by presenting the ticket to a cashier or by inserting the ticket at an automated ticket-cashing machine, both within the casino. 
     Typically, when the casino management system is up and running (i.e., online), the electronic gaming device communicates with the casino management system over a network and reports that a ticket has been dispensed. The casino management system keeps track of all the tickets dispensed by recording this information in a casino management system database. When the ticket is paid out (i.e., processed and redeemed for cash) by an automated ticket-cashing machine or a cashier, the ticket is validated against the database record held by the casino management system, and the casino management system updates the database to reflect the fact that the ticket was paid out (i.e., redeemed) in cash, and is therefore no longer payable or capable of being validated for payment in the future. 
     Unfortunately, whenever the casino management system is not online (e.g., due to system failure or planned maintenance outage), patrons at the casino may have to wait long periods of time to get paid their winnings, as the tickets cannot be validated against the casino management system database in the usual automated fashion. Instead, alternate casino procedures may be employed to manually validate, approve, and authorize payment. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE  
     In a first implementation, a method includes defining a first data set and a second data set on a handheld device. The first data set defines at least an identity of a winner at an electronic gaming device, The second data set defines at least an amount of winnings. At least a portion of the first data set and at least a portion of the second data set are stored for subsequent submission to a casino management system. The portions stored define transaction data. 
     One or more of the following features may be included. Defining the first data set may include processing encoded data to define the identity of the winner. Defining the second data set may include coupling the handheld device to the electronic gaming device. 
     One or more forms relevant to a procedure for paying out the winnings may be generated based, at least in part, upon at least a portion of the transaction data. The transaction data may be processed to generate processed transaction data. The processed transaction data may be stored. The processed transaction data may be provided to an online casino management system. 
     A determination may be made concerning whether a casino management system is online. If it is determined that the casino management system is online, a payment of the amount of winnings may be processed on the casino management system. The handheld device may be chosen from the group consisting of: a personal data assistant, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, and a specialized device. 
     In another implementation, a computer program product resides on a computer readable medium having a plurality of instructions stored on it. When executed by a processor, the instructions cause the processor to perform operations including defining a first data set and a second data set on a handheld device. The first data set defines at least an identity of a winner at an electronic gaming device, The second data set defines at least an amount of winnings. At least a portion of the first data set and at least a portion of the second data set are stored for subsequent submission to a casino management system. The portions stored define transaction data. 
     One or more of the following features may be included. Defining the first data set may include processing encoded data to define the identity of the winner. Defining the second data set may include coupling the handheld device to the electronic gaming device. 
     One or more forms relevant to a procedure for paying out the winnings may be generated based, at least in part, upon at least a portion of the transaction data. The transaction data may be processed to generate processed transaction data. The processed transaction data may be stored. The processed transaction data may be provided to an online casino management system. 
     A determination may be made concerning whether a casino management system is online. If it is determined that the casino management system is online, a payment of the amount of winnings may be processed on the casino management system. The handheld device may be chosen from the group consisting of: a personal data assistant, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, and a specialized device. 
     The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic view of an offline payout system coupled to a distributed computing network; 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart of part of a process executed by the offline payout system of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart of part of a process executed by the offline payout system of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE  
     System Overview: 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown offline payout system  10 . As will be discussed below in greater detail, when a winning patron at a casino (e.g., winner  12 ) wins at e.g., a casino slot machine (e.g., electronic gaming device  14 ) on the floor of the casino, the payment may be effectuated by offline payout system  10 . The identity of winner  12  may be defined within first data set  16 . Additionally, the amount of the winnings may be defined within second data set  18 . Examples of electronic gaming device  14  may include but are not limited to electronic slot machines, and electronic poker machines. 
     While the identity of winner  12  and the amount of the winnings are described as a first data set and a second data set (respectively), this is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be a limitation of this disclosure. For example, these two pieces of data (e.g., the identity of winner  12  and the amount of the winnings may be included within a single data set, of which first data set  16  is a first portion of the single data set and second data set  18  is a second portion of the single data set). 
     All or a portion of data sets  16 ,  18  may be defined on a handheld device (e.g., handheld device  20 ) and provided to one or more casino systems that facilitates payment of the winnings to winner  12 . The portions of first and second data sets  16 ,  18  that are provided to e.g., the one or more casino systems may form transaction data (e.g., transaction data  22 ). Examples of handheld device  20  may include but are not limited to a personal data assistant, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, and a specialized device. 
     Offline payout system  10  may include a client-side portion (e.g., client-side offline payout system  10 C) and a server-side portion (e.g., server-side offline payout system  10 S) that may work cooperatively to effectuate the functionality of offline payout system  10 . 
     Handheld device  20  may be coupled to distributed computing network  24  (e.g., the Internet or a local area network). Handheld device  20  may include various instruction sets and subroutines (e.g., client-side offline payout system  10 C), which may be stored on storage device  26  coupled to/included within handheld device  20  and may be executed by one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memory architectures (not shown) incorporated into handheld device  20 . 
     Examples of storage device  26  may include but are not limited to: a hard disk drive; a random access memory (RAM); a read-only memory (ROM), a compact flash (CF) storage device, a secure digital (SD) storage device, and a memory stick storage device. Handheld device  20  may run an operating system, examples of which may include but are not limited to: Microsoft Windows™, Microsoft Windows CE™, Redhat Linux™, PalmOS™, Apple Mac OS X™, or a custom operating system. 
     Server-side offline payout system  10 S may reside on and may be executed by server computer  28 , which may be coupled to network  24  (e.g., the Internet or a local area network). Examples of server computer  28  may include, but are not limited to: a personal computer, a server computer, a series of server computers, a mini computer, and a mainframe computer. Server computer  28  may be a single server or a series of servers running a network operating system, examples of which may include but are not limited to: Microsoft Windows 2003 Server™ Novell Netware™ or Redhat Linux™, for example. 
     The instruction sets and subroutines of server-side offline payout system  10 S, which may be stored on storage device  30  coupled to server computer  28 , may be executed by one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memory architectures (not shown) incorporated into server computer  28 . Examples of storage device  30  may include but are not limited to: a hard disk drive; a tape drive; an optical drive; a RAID array; a random access memory (RAM); and a read-only memory (ROM). 
     Server computer  28  may execute a server application, examples of which may include but are not limited to: Microsoft IIS™, Novell Webserver™, or Apache Webserver™, that allows for access to server computer  28  via network  24 . Network  24  may be connected to one or more secondary networks (e.g., network  32 ), examples of which may include but are not limited to: a local area network; a wide area network; or an intranet, for example. 
     Handheld device  20  may be directly or indirectly coupled to network  24  (or network  32 ). For example, handheld device  20  is shown wirelessly coupled to network  24  via wireless communication channel  34  established between handheld device  20  and wireless access point (i.e., WAP)  36 , which is shown directly coupled to network  24 . WAP  36  may be, for example, an IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.15, Bluetooth, and/or infrared device that is capable of establishing wireless communication channel  34  between handheld device  20  and WAP  36 . Handheld device  20  may additionally/alternatively be coupled to network  24  via a wired communication channel (not shown) effectuated using a Universal Serial Bus (i.e., USB) port, an IEEE 1394 port, an Ethernet port, a standard parallel port, and/or a standard serial port that is capable of coupling handheld device  20  to network  24 . 
     As is known in the art, all of the IEEE 802.11x specifications may use Ethernet protocol and carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (i.e., CSMA/CA) for path sharing. The various 802.11x specifications may use phase-shift keying (i.e., PSK) modulation or complementary code keying (i.e., CCK) modulation, for example. As is known in the art, Bluetooth is a telecommunications industry specification that allows e.g., mobile phones, computers, and personal digital assistants to be interconnected using a short-range wireless interface. 
     System Operation: 
     Referring also to  FIG. 2 , assume that winner  12  is a patron of the casino and is playing various electronic games. Further, assume that, upon playing electronic gaming device  14 , winner  12  wins a payout from electronic gaming device  14 . Accordingly, offline payout system  10  (e.g., client-side offline payout system  10 C and/or server-side offline payout system  10 S) may be used to effectuate payment of the winnings to winner  12 . 
     Specifically, offline payout system  10  may first determine  100  whether casino management system  38  is online. If it is determined  100  that casino management system  38  is online, the payment of the winnings to winner  12  may be processed  102  on casino management system  38 . Such a payment may involve e.g., Ticket-In-Ticket-Out system  40  (or any other casino procedure utilized for regular payment of winnings). 
     If it is determined  100  that casino management system  38  is not online (i.e., is offline), offline payout system  10  (e.g., client-side offline payout system  10 C and/or server-side offline payout system  10 S) may be utilized to effectuate payment of the winnings to winner  12 . 
     Additionally/alternatively, the payment of the winnings to winner  12  may also be processed via offline payout system  10  during time when casino management system  38  is online. Accordingly, casino management system  38  being offline is not considered to be a prerequisite to the payment of winnings being effectuated via offline payout system  10 . 
     Upon determining  100  that casino management system  38  is not online (or if it is desired to use offline payout system  10 ), first data set  16  may be defined  104  on handheld device  20 . As discussed above, first data set  16  may include the identity of winner  12  (i.e., the casino patron who won the winnings on electronic gaming device  14 ). 
     First data set  16  may be defined (at least in part) by casino floor employee  42 , who may manually enter  106  first data set  16  into handheld device  20 . First data set  16  may be defined e.g., by casino floor employee  42  asking winner  12  for his/her identity and/or asking winner  12  to provide a form of identification. The requisite information may then be manually entered into handheld device  20  through, e.g., a keypad or touch screen (not shown). 
     In another embodiment, first data set  16  may be defined  104  by processing  108  data that is encoded within some form of identification, examples of which may include but are not limited to: a driver&#39;s license, a membership card (e.g., a casino player&#39;s card), a passport, a social security card, or any other government-issued or privately-issued identification. Data may be encoded using a variety of methodologies, examples of which may include but are not limited to a magnetic strip, a barcode, an optical code, an image, or text. 
     The processing  108  of the encoded data may include reading  110  a magnetic strip, a barcode, or an optical code; or may include scanning  112  an image or text. Accordingly, handheld device  20  may include a magnetic strip reader (not shown), a barcode reader (not shown), or an optical scanner (not shown). 
     For example, a driver&#39;s license or a casino player&#39;s card of winner  12  may have data encoded within a magnetic strip included on the driver&#39;s license or the casino player&#39;s card. A magnetic strip reader (not shown) included within handheld device  20  may read  110  the magnetic strip when the driver&#39;s license of winner  12  is swiped through the strip reader. Depending on the manner in which the magnetic strip is configured, the magnetic strip may directly contain the identity of winner  12  or may contain reference data from which the identity of winner  12  may further be determined. For example, a record number or an account number may be defined within the magnetic strip, which may be used to determine the identity of winner  12  via a lookup operation performed on a database (e.g., a motor vehicles database or a casino player&#39;s club database). 
     If the form of identification does not contain a magnetic strip but does include e.g., the name, address and/or photograph of winner  12 , handheld device  20  may e.g., scan  112  the driver&#39;s license (or other form of identification) with an included scanner (not shown) and may further process  108  the scan by e.g., storing the scan as an image file, conducting optical character recognition to extract text-based data, and storing the text-based data. Additionally/alternatively, face recognition software (not shown) may be utilized to process the photograph included within the driver&#39;s license (or other form of identification) to identify the winner  12  from the photograph. 
     As discussed above, first data set  16  (as defined  104  on handheld device  20 ) may include the identity of winner  12 , either directly (e.g., by name, address, social security number, etc.) or indirectly (e.g., driver&#39;s license number, account number(s), photographic image, etc.). Additionally, other pieces of information may be included within first data set  16 , examples of which may include but are not limited to the identity of the user of handheld device  20  (e.g., casino floor employee  42 ), the identity of handheld device  20 , and the date/time the information was entered into handheld device  20 . 
     Additionally and as discussed above, second data set  18  (as defined  114  on handheld device  20 ) may include the amount of the winnings won by winner  12  on electronic gaming device  14 . Second data set  18  may be defined (at least in part) by casino floor employee  42 , who may manually enter  116  second data set  18  into handheld device  20 . This may be achieved e.g., by casino floor employee  42  reviewing a display (not shown) on electronic gaming device  14 , reading the amount of winnings from the display, and manually entering the amount into handheld device  20  through e.g., a keypad or touch screen (not shown) included within handheld device  20 . 
     In another embodiment, second data set  18  may be defined  114  by coupling  118  handheld device  20  to electronic gaming device  14 . Coupling  118  may be performed in any manner that enables communication to be established between electronic gaming device  14  and handheld device  20 , examples of which may include but are not limited to a wired coupling (e.g., via an RS-232 interface, a LAN interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, or an IEEE 1394 interface) or a wireless coupling (e.g., via an infrared interface, a radio-frequency interface, a Bluetooth® interface, or a Wi-Fi interface). For example, electronic gaming device  14  and handheld device  20  may each have a USB interface, and upon connecting an appropriate USB cable between them, communication may be established on a USB communication channel. Once communication is established, electronic gaming device  14  may provide (to handheld device  20 ) the amount of winnings won by winner  12 . 
     Additionally/alternatively, electronic gaming device  14  and handheld device  20  may each have a wireless Bluetooth® interface, and upon bringing handheld device  20  within proximity of electronic gaming device  14 , a wireless Bluetooth® communication channel may be established between devices  14 ,  20 . 
     In addition to defining the amount of winnings won by winner  12 , one or more additional pieces of information may be included within second data set  18 , examples of which may include but are not limited to the identity of the user of handheld device  20  (e.g., casino floor employee  42 ), the identity of handheld device  20 , the identity of electronic gaming device  14  from which the winnings were won, and the date/time of the winnings. 
     As discussed above, offline payout system  10  may include a client-side portion (e.g., client-side offline payout system  10 C) and a server-side portion (e.g., server-side offline payout system  10 S) that may work cooperatively to effectuate the functionality of offline payout system  10 . Further and as discussed above, client-side offline payout system  10 C may be executed on e.g., handheld device  20  and server-side offline payout system  10 S may be executed on server computer  28 . 
     In such a client-side/server-side implementation, at least a portion of first data set  16  and at least a portion of second data set  18  may be provided  124  from client-side offline payout system  10 C to server-side offline payout system  10 S. The portion of first data set  16  that is provided  124  to server-side offline payout system  10 S may include but is not limited to the identity of winner  12 . The portion of second data set  18  that is provided  124  to server-side offline payout system  10 S may include but is not limited to the amount of winnings. As discussed above, the various portion(s) of first data set  16  and second data set  18  that are provided to server-side offline payout system  10 S may be known collectively as transaction data  22 . As discussed above, transaction data  22  may be provided  124  from client-side offline payout system  10 C to server-side offline payout system  10 S via e.g., wireless communication channel  34  and network  24 . 
     Transaction data  22  may be provided  124  from client-side offline payout system  10 C to server-side offline payout system  10 S through any of a number of different interfaces and mechanisms. For example, handheld device  20  (i.e., the device that executes client-side offline payout system  10 C) may be coupled to server computer  28  (i.e., the computer that executes server-side offline payout system  10 S) via a direct cable interface (e.g., an RS-232 interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, or an IEEE 1394 interface). In such a case, handheld device  20  may transmit  126  transaction data  22  to server computer  28  over the direct cable interface. 
     Alternatively, handheld device  20  (i.e., the device that executes client-side offline payout system  10 C) may be coupled to server computer  28  (i.e., the computer that executes server-side offline payout system  10 S) via a wireless interface (e.g., wireless communication channel  34  between WAP  36  and handheld device  20 ) in conjunction with e.g., network  24 . In one such embodiment, WAP  36  may be coupled to network  24  and may enable communication between handheld device  20  and network  24  via wireless communication channel  34 . Accordingly, handheld device  20  may wirelessly transmit  128  transaction data  22  over wireless communication channel  34 . Transaction data  22  may be received by WAP  36  and forwarded through network  24  to server computer  28 . 
     Transaction data  22  that is provided  124  by handheld device  20  may be received and stored  130  by e.g., server-side offline payout system  10 S. Specifically, transaction data  22  may be stored on storage device  30  coupled to server computer  28  (i.e., the computer that executes server-side offline payout system  10 S). 
     Transaction data  22  may be processed  132  by client-side offline payout system  10 C and/or server-side offline payout system  10 S to define processed transaction data  46 . Processing  132  transaction data  22  may include generating  134  one or more forms relevant to a procedure for paying out the winnings (e.g., casino approval and authorization forms, and tax-related forms) to winner  12 . Processing  132  transaction data  22  may also include storing processed transaction data  46  (e.g., that may include transaction data  22  and/or payment data) for future processing, or for future notification to the casino management system  38  (e.g., at a time when casino management system  38  is online). 
     For example, casino procedures may require that one or more cashiers and/or one or more managers sign an authorization form before cash is paid out to winner  10 . Such a form may be generated  134  by either handheld device  20  (i.e., if capable of printing forms) or by server-side offline payout system  10 S through a direct or network attached printer (e.g., printer  44 ). Such a form may define e.g., the identity of winner  12  and the amount of the winnings won by winner  12 . Such a form may also include a control/validation number, the identity of handheld device  20 , the identity of the user (e.g., casino floor employee  42 ) of handheld device  20 , the identity of electronic gaming device  14 , and the date/time of the win on electronic gaming device  14 . 
     Further, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) forms (and/or other state, local, or municipal taxing authority) may require that some winnings have a tax-related form generated  134  and/or have the transaction reported to the taxing authority. For example, the IRS may require that a W2G form be generated  134  for certain gambling winnings. 
     As mentioned above, processing  132  transaction data  22  may include storing  136  processed transaction data  46  for future processing and/or for providing  138  to casino management system  38 . Server-side offline payout system  10 S may store  136  processed transaction data  46  on e.g., storage device  30 . Further, server-side offline payout system  10 S may provide  138  all (or a portion of) processed transaction data  46  to casino management system  38  either immediately or at some future time. Specifically, if casino management system  38  is currently not online (i.e., is offline), server-side offline payout system  10 S may store  136  processed transaction data  46  until casino management system  38  is online. For example, server-side offline payout system  10 S may store  136  processed transaction data  46  on storage device  30  coupled to server computer  28 . The stored  136  process transaction data  46  may include, but is not limited to, transaction data  22 , payment data (e.g., a record that the winnings have actually been paid out in cash), or any other information that is desired/required by casino procedure(s), such as authorized user, date and time data, control/validation data, and the identity of electronic gaming device  14 . 
     A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.