INCENTIVE SYSTEM FOR GAMING PLAYER TRACKING
An incentive method is provided for encouraging use of a credit or debit card sponsored by, or affiliated with, a first vendor having consumer offerings, such as a casino offering gambling on games of chance, food, lodging, or other goods or services. The method includes offering the card to a person, such as a casino patron, tracking transactions on the card after acceptance by the person, including transactions for consumer offerings purchased from a second vendor, and rewarding second vendor transactions with a discount on a consumer offering purchased from the first vendor. An incentive system is provided for rewarding casino patrons who enroll in a tracking system which monitors various player characteristics. These monitored characteristics are used to assign a player rating which is used to enhance prize payouts and/or award bonus prizes.
1 . An incentive method of encouraging use of a credit or debit card sponsored by or affiliated with a casino having games of chance and consumer offerings, comprising:
offering the card to a casino patron;
tracking transactions on the card after acceptance by the patron, including transactions for casino gaming and consumer offerings purchased from a third party vendor; and
rewarding third party vendor transactions with a casino reward.
2 . The incentive method of claim 1 , wherein the casino reward comprises a discount up to a full purchase price of a selected casino consumer offering.
3 . The incentive method of claim 1 , wherein the casino reward comprises an enhanced payout for gaming wins based on third party vendor card transactions.
4 . The incentive method of claim 1 , wherein the casino reward comprises a bonus prize for gaming wins having a value based on third party vendor card transactions.
5 . The incentive method of claim 1 , further comprising paying off up to all of an existing balance on the card for gaming wins where the card was used to place a wager.
6 . The incentive method of claim 1 , further comprising making at least one payment on the card balance for gaming wins where the card was used to place a wager.
7 . An incentive method of encouraging enrollment in a tracking system employed by a casino, comprising:
offering casino patrons enrollment into the tracking system;
linking a player cashless device to the tracking system;
paying a regular prize payout to patrons who decline enrollment; and
paying an enhanced prize payout to patrons who enroll in the tracking system.
8 . The incentive method of claim 7 , further comprising:
calculating a player rating for each enrolled patron using the tracking system; and
establishing the enhanced prize payout using the player rating.
9 . The incentive method of claim 7 , further comprising:
monitoring a characteristic of each enrolled patron while playing a game at the casino;
determining a rating for each enrolled patron corresponding to the monitored characteristic; and
varying a value of the enhanced prize payout according to the determined rating.
10 . The incentive method of claim 9 , wherein:
the method further comprises storing a date of patron enrollment in the tracking system; and
the characteristic comprises a duration of patron enrollment in the tracking system.
11 . The incentive method of claim 9 , wherein the characteristic comprises at least one of:
(a) a wagering characteristic;
(b) an attendance record; and
(c) a game profile characteristic.
12 . The incentive method of claim 7 , further comprising:
offering a credit or debit card sponsored by or affiliated with the casino to casino patrons, with casino patrons who accept the card becoming cardholders;
monitoring card transactions by cardholders to purchase consumer offerings of a third party vendor;
determining a rating for each cardholder based on the monitored card transactions; and
varying a value of the enhanced prize payout according to the determined rating.
13 . The incentive method of claim 12 , wherein paying an enhanced prize payout comprises paying off up to all of an existing balance on the card for gaming wins where the card was used to place a wager.
14 . A system for allowing a gaming player to redeem winnings, comprising:
a gaming machine comprising a processing system, the processing system configured to present a player with a game of chance, to determine whether the player has won or lost the game of chance, and to update a value according to whether the player has won or lost the game of chance;
a cashless gaming device configured to store player information; and
a cashless gaming device cash-out system in communication with the gaming machine processing system, with the cash-out system comprising a processor configured to compare information from the gaming machine processing system to a set of predefined instructions to determine whether the game player is entitled to a prize.
15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the cashless gaming device cash-out system further comprises a prize indicator, with the prize indicator indicating to the player any additional prize to which the player is entitled.
16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the prize indicator comprises at least one of:
a video screen; and
a printed indicator.
17 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the cashless gaming device comprises machine readable identification indicia.
18 . A gaming player incentive system comprising:
cashless means for spending money at a casino cashier;
card processing means in communication with the casino cashier for tracking player spending;
tracking means in communication with the processing means for monitoring money spent at a home casino; and
rewarding means in communication with the tracking means for giving the player an incentive to spend more based on a spending pattern made with the cashless means.
19 . The system of claim 18 , further comprising calculating means in communication with the tracking means for calculating a rating for the player based on player spending.
20 . The system of claim 19 , further comprising third party tracking means in communication with the card processing means for tracking money spent at a third party vendor location, the third party tracking means in communication with the rewarding means to affect the rating based on money spent at the third party vendor location.
21 . The system of claim 19 , wherein:
the tracking means further comprises means for tracking casino attendance; and
the rating is further calculated based on casino attendance.
22 . The system of claim 19 , wherein:
the tracking means further comprises means for tracking wagering characteristics; and
the rating is further calculated based on wagering characteristics.
23 . The system of claim 19 , wherein:
the tracking means further comprises means for tracking game selection; and
the rating is further calculated based on game selection.
24 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the tracking means further comprises means for tracking at least one of:
(a) prizes awarded to the player;
(b) money spent on activities selected from the group consisting of services, food, non-food, and wagering; and
(c) player activity selected from the group consisting of attendance at the home casino, game selection, wagering, prize wining, and spending money on casino offerings.
25 . A casino operating system, comprising:
a monitor to gather information defining a characteristic exhibited by a casino patron;
a tracker to store the gathered information for each casino patron monitored;
an enrollment mechanism operable by casino patrons to enroll in the tracking system; and
a prize calculator responsive to the gathered information to calculate an enhanced prize for each enrolled patron.
26 . The casino operating system of claim 25 , wherein:
the tracker assigns each enrolled patron a rating based on the gathered information; and
the prize calculator tracker uses the rating to calculate the enhanced prize.
27 . The casino operating system of claim 25 , wherein the characteristic comprises at least one of:
(a) patron attendance at the casino;
(b) patron wagering habits; and
(c) patron gaming selections.