Patent ID: 7275991

Claim:
A gaming apparatus that pays credits responsive to the outcome of a game played, said gaming apparatus comprising: a. a logic device adapted for storing an amount of credit available for the play of said game, said amount of credit being determined by at least one of the outcome of the game played and an amount of currency inputted into said gaming apparatus; b. a first input mechanism adapted for recognizing and validating paper currency, said first input mechanism providing a first input signal to the logic device representing an amount of credit represented by said paper currency; c. an output mechanism for generating a first code on a first permanent storage record, said first code representing credit stored by said logic device, and an outlet for said first permanent storage record, wherein the first code includes unique identification information and wherein the unique identification information is for allowing a remote host to verify the validity of the permanent storage record; d. a second input mechanism adapted for reading said first code on said first permanent storage record; and e. a communication interface adapted for receiving at least the unique identification information from the remote host or for sending at least the unique identification information to the remote host.