Patent ID: 7693306

Claim:
A method of tracking a patron in a gaming environment to distinguish between existing patrons and new patrons to track their gaming activities, said method utilizing at least one database having a patron folder and a temporary folder with a plurality of known images and known text descriptions stored in the patron folder, said method comprising the steps of: photographing the patron to create an image, obtaining a text description of the patron, linking the image and the text description together into an electronic communication, transmitting the electronic communication to the database, comparing at least one of the image and the text description to determine if the at least one of the image and the text description is equivalent to one of the plurality of known images and known text descriptions stored in the database, and storing at least one of the image and the text description in the temporary folder if at least one of the image is different than the known images and the text description is different than the known text descriptions stored in the database to distinguish an existing patron from a new patron and to track the gaming activities of the patron.