Patent ID: 6892938

Claim:
A method for paying a jackpot to a player of a gaming machine in a gaming environment, said method comprising the steps of: identifying a first employee at the gaming machine; assigning the jackpot to the first employee after identifying the first employee; registering the assigned jackpot on a computer at a jackpot fill station; authorizing access to the computer at the jackpot fill station to the first employee to allow the first employee to select the assigned jackpot for processing; sensing a biometric characteristic of the first employee at the jackpot fill station after the first employee has selected the assigned jackpot for processing and independent of authorizing access to the computer at the jackpot fill station to the first employee; comparing the sensed biometric characteristic with a stored characteristic of the first employee and responsively confirming that the sensed biometric matches the stored characteristic of the first employee; and, authorizing payment of the jackpot to the player if a match is confirmed.