REPORTING AND WAGERING PROCESSING IN SERVER-CENTRIC WAGERING GAME SYSTEMS

1 . A method for operating a wagering game machine, the method comprising:

detecting, via input devices of the wagering game machine, player inputs indicating wagers placed on wagering games;

notifying, via one or more networks, a wagering game server about the wager;

receiving, from the wagering game server via the one or more networks, results for the wagering games;

presenting the results of the wagering games on at least one display device of the wagering game machine;

receiving, from the game server via the network, information indicating the wagers placed on the wagering games and wagers won for the wagering games;

reporting, by the wagering game machine via the one or more networks, the information to a slot accounting system.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the information also indicates denominations of the wagers placed on the wagering games, and denominations of the wagers won for the wagering games.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the slot accounting system and the game server reside on different computing devices.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the notifying includes transmitting information indicating the wagers collected and paid-out for the wagering games according to a Slot Accounting System (SAS) protocol.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein wagers on the wagering games are made using monetary value deposited into a receptacle of the wagering game machine.

6 . A method for operating a wagering game machine, the method comprising:

receiving monetary value via a value input device of the wagering game machine;

creating, on the wagering game machine, wagering credit equivalent to the monetary value;

detecting a wager of at least a portion of the wagering credit on a wagering game;

transmitting, to the remote wagering game server over a network, a message indicating that the wagering game credit is sufficient to cover the wager;

after transmitting the message, receiving a result for the wagering game over the network from the remote wagering game server; and

presenting, on a display device of the wagering game machine, the result for the wagering game.

7 . The method of claim 6 further comprising:

modifying, in the wagering game machine, the wagering game credit based on the result for the wagering game.

8 . The method of claim 7 further comprising:

detecting a request to cash-out the wagering game credit; and

providing a ticket having value equal to the wagering game credit.

9 . The method of claim 8 wherein after the detecting the request to cash-out the wagering game credit, the wagering game machine does not report the value of the wagering game credit for deposit in a player account.

10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the wagering game machine does not report the monetary value for deposit in a player account.

11 . The method of claim 6 further comprising:

creating, by the wagering game server, an anonymous account in association with the wagering game machine; and

crediting, by the wagering game server, the anonymous account in an amount equal to the monetary value.

12 . A method for operating a wagering game server, the method comprising:

receiving, from a wagering game machine via a network, data indicating player input initiating a wagering game on the wagering game machine;

receiving, from the wagering game machine, a message indicating the wagering game machine has received monetary value sufficient to cover a wager on the wagering game;

determining, based on the message, that the wagering game machine has received monetary value sufficient to cover the wager on the wagering game;

determining, by the wagering game server, a result for the wagering game; and

after determining the wagering game machine has received monetary value sufficient to cover the wager on the wagering game, transmitting the result to the wagering game machine via a network.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the determining that the wagering game machine has received monetary value sufficient to cover the wager on the wagering game occurs without accessing information about a player financial account.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the determining that the wagering game machine has received monetary value sufficient to cover the wager on the wagering game is not based on information about a player financial account.

15 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

receiving, from a wagering game machine via a network, player input initiating a second wagering game on the wagering game machine;

receiving monetary value from a player account;

after receiving monetary value from the player account,

determining a second result for a second wagering game; transmitting the second result to the wagering game machine.