Patent ID: 8727873

Claim:
A gaming machine comprising: a main cabinet including a main cabinet door, the main cabinet enclosing master gaming controller hardware of the gaming machine; a cash drop cabinet separate from the main cabinet, wherein the cash drop cabinet includes a cash drop cabinet door and the cash drop cabinet is configured to store wager game currency; a main cabinet locking mechanism configured to control access to the main cabinet via the main cabinet door; a cash drop cabinet locking mechanism configured to control access to the cash drop cabinet via the cash drop door; a communication interface configured to communicate with a wireless device and a network server; and one or more processors configured to: receive a first request from the wireless device for access to the main cabinet, receive a second request from the wireless device for access to the cash drop cabinet, facilitate verifying by the network server whether a user associated with the wireless device has access to the main cabinet based on the first request, facilitate verifying by the network server whether a user associated with the wireless device has access to the cash drop cabinet based on the second request, upon obtaining verification from the network server that the user has access to the main cabinet, unlock the main cabinet locking mechanism, upon obtaining verification from the network server that the user has access to the cash drop cabinet, unlock the cash drop locking mechanism, wherein obtaining verification from the network server for access to the cash drop cabinet requires the user to have a first security clearance level, which does not permit access to the main cabinet enclosing the master gaming controller hardware, and wherein obtaining verification from the network server for access to the main cabinet requires the user to have a second security clearance level that is higher than the first security clearance level.