Patent ID: 7682238

Claim:
A gaming apparatus, comprising: a display unit that is capable of generating video images; a value input device; a value output device comprising: a frame, one or more hoppers mounted to the frame and adapted to hold one or more containers, the one or more hoppers moveable relative to a hopper opening, an outlet spaced from the hopper opening, a first plate moveable relative to the hopper opening between a first position wherein the first plate blocks the hopper opening and a second position wherein the first plate is spaced from the hopper opening, and a carrier having a receptacle formed to receive one and only one container therein from one of the hoppers and defining a carrier inlet and a spaced carrier outlet to the receptacle, the entire carrier moveable between a first position wherein the carrier outlet is adjacent the outlet and a second position wherein the carrier inlet is adjacent the hopper opening, wherein the entire carrier is moveable relative to the first plate, wherein the one or more hoppers are moveable relative to the carrier and the first plate, the container containing at least one item of value therein; and a controller operatively coupled to said display unit, said value input device, and said value output device, said controller comprising a processor and a memory operatively coupled to said processor, said controller being programmed to allow a person to make a wager, said controller being programmed to cause a video image representing a game to be generated on said display unit, said video image representing one of the following games: video poker, video blackjack, video slots, video keno or video bingo, said video image comprising an image of at least five playing cards if said game comprises video poker, said video image comprising an image of a plurality of simulated slot machine reels if said game comprises video slots, said video image comprising an image of a plurality of playing cards if said game comprises video blackjack, said video image comprising an image of a plurality of keno numbers if said game comprises video keno, said video image comprising an image of a bingo grid if said game comprises video bingo, said controller being programmed to determine a value payout associated with an outcome of said game, said controller being programmed to move the first plate from the first position to the second position with the carrier in the second position to permit one and only one container to enter the receptacle in the carrier, said controller being programmed to move the first plate from the second position to the first position, said controller being programmed to move the entire carrier from the second position to the first position with the first plate in the second position to provide the value payout in the form of the at least one item of value contained in the one and only one container, and said controller being programmed to move the one or more hoppers relative to the hopper opening.