Gaming apparatus having wide screen display

1 . A gaming apparatus configured to present one or more wager-based games comprising:

a cabinet, a door connected to said cabinet, said door moveable between a first position and a second position, said door in said first position cooperating with said cabinet to define a generally closed interior space, said door in said second position permitting access to said interior space, said door having a front and a rear;

a wager accepting device;

a generally planar video display having a wide screen format; and

a controller configured to cause game information to be displayed by said video display in response to acceptance of a wager.

2 . The gaming apparatus in accordance with claim 1 including a mechanism for awarding winnings for a winning game outcome.

3 . The gaming apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said planar video display comprises a LCD display.

4 . The gaming apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said controller is configured to cause video poker game information to be displayed, said video poker game information comprising images of one or more cards.

5 . The gaming apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said controller is configured to cause video slot information to be displayed, said video slot information comprising images of one or more symbols.

6 . The gaming apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said video display has an aspect ratio greater than 4:3.

7 . The gaming apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said video display has a length and a width, said length exceeding said width, said video display mounted so that said length extends generally horizontally with respect to said gaming apparatus.

8 . The gaming apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said video display is a plasma display.