Patent ID: 8038534

Claim:
A method of simultaneously providing a plurality of different types of bingo games over a large area, the method comprising: providing a gaming system comprising a central bingo server (CBS) operably connected to a plurality of central bingo game controllers (CBGC), each CBGC is a standalone system and controls a respective one of the different types of bingo games, each CBGC being operably connected to one or more bingo game controllers (BGC), each BGC having its own private network comprising a plurality of player terminals operably connected to the BGC, each player terminal being connected to only one BGC and no other BGC, each BGC being located outside the plurality of player terminals, and each player terminal presenting one or more bingo games; generating a set of bingo cards by the CBS, wherein each bingo card is a unique card; distributing a deck of the bingo cards from the CBS to the CBGC, wherein the deck of bingo cards is a subset of bingo cards; randomly selecting one or more bingo cards from the deck and distributing the one or more bingo cards to one or more BGCs; distributing one or more bingo cards to player terminals in response to player input; generating a ball sequence by the CBS, wherein the ball sequence comprises a plurality of balls that represent a letter-number combination; determining and transmitting an appropriate ball sequence, comprising an appropriate number of balls in the ball sequence, to the plurality of CBGCs which, in turn, transmit the appropriate ball sequence to the respective one or more BGCs; and presenting one or more balls from the appropriate ball sequence on the player terminal.