Patent ID: 7335106

Claim:
A system for providing closed-loop operation for promotional events for a video gaming machine that presents a video game complete with a defined payout table, the promotional events being associated with particular winning criteria that is defined independently from the payout table but that are dependent upon the outcomes of the video gaming machine, the system comprising: a controller box that is operable to interface to the video gaming machine and is interconnected to the main processor of the video gaming machine; a promotional server that is communicatively coupled to the controller box and operable to: maintain a database of promotional events with each promotional event having promotional content, winning criteria and scheduling information; deliver to the controller box, at least one promotional event of the database of promotional events; receive from the controller box, messages indicating that the winning criteria for a particular promotional event have been met; and the controller box being further operative to: in addition to the underlying video game presented by the main processor of the video gaming machine, display a promotional event, that is separate from the underlying game, on the display of the video gaming machine in a manner that allows the underlying video game to continue to be presented and operational on the video gaming machine simultaneously with the promotional event; monitor the activity of the video gaming machine to determine if a normally occurring outcome of the underlying video game that meets the winning criteria defined for the promotional event has occurred; and if so, provide information indicating that the winning criteria for a particular promotional event have been satisfied.