Patent ID: 7826496

Claim:
A gaming system, comprising: a computer network; a server coupled to the computer network; a master schedule table accessible to the server; a gaming machine coupled to the computer network and configured to receive a file from the server over the network, the file being divided into a plurality of packets, wherein the server is configured to send a packet of the plurality of packets of the file to the gaming machine along with a selected delay value retrieved from the master schedule table, the selected delay value specifying a period of time that the gaming machine must wait before requesting another packet of the plurality of packets from the server, the delay value being selected as a function of at least one of the capacity of the computer network and an observed operational traffic related to processing of gaming transactions on the plurality of gaming machines, the server being further configured to receive, after a period of time at least equal to the delay value, a request for a next packet of the plurality of packets from the gaming machine and, only upon receipt thereof, to send the requested next packet of the plurality of packets until a request for a last packet of the plurality of packets is received from the gaming machine, and to send the last packet to the gaming machine upon receipt of the request therefor.