Patent ID: 8251809

Claim:
A gaming machine activation system communicatively coupled to a gaming machine, said system comprising: a non-contact user identification device configured to be carried by a user, said user identification device configured to communicate first individualized data concerning the user; a manual actuator communicatively coupled to said gaming machine and configured to receive a physical actuation from the user to enable said gaming machine to accept noncontact electronic data transmission from said user identification device; a first reader communicatively coupled to said gaming machine, said first reader configured to receive the first individualized data from said user identification device; a second reader communicatively coupled to said gaming machine, said second reader configured to receive user verification data from the user; a database containing user identification data communicatively coupled to said gaming device; and a processor configured to: evaluate the first individualized data and the user verification data against the user identification data stored in the database; and upon favorable evaluation of the data, enable said gaming machine for subsequent play by the user.