Method and apparatus for storing information on a wager gaming voucher

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for processing and storing information on a wager gaming voucher are described herein. In one embodiment, a wager gaming voucher includes a single machine-readable indicium. The single machine-readable indicium includes a remote database index associated with a set of one or more fields in a remote database and a portable voucher database to store information.

1 . A wager gaming voucher comprising: 
 a single machine-readable indicium including, 
 a remote database index associated with a set of one or more tables in a remote database; and  
 a portable voucher database to store voucher information.  
   
   
   
       2 . The wager gaming voucher of  claim 1 , wherein the portable voucher database includes a monetary value of the wager gaming voucher.  
   
   
       3 . The wager gaming voucher of  claim 1 , wherein the monetary value can be accessed without accessing the remote database.  
   
   
       4 . The wager gaming voucher of  claim 1 , wherein the voucher information can be accessed without accessing the remote database.  
   
   
       5 . The wager gaming voucher of  claim 1 , wherein the portable voucher database includes information selected from the group consisting of a player identifier, a set of player preferences, a validation number, non-monetary awards, game entry data, lottery entry, and a game state.  
   
   
       6 . The wager gaming voucher of  claim 1 , wherein the single indicium is a two-dimensional barcode.  
   
   
       7 . The wager gaming voucher of  claim 1 , wherein the portable voucher database includes validation information that can be used to validate the wager gaming voucher without accessing a network.  
   
   
       8 . The wager gaming voucher of  claim 1 , wherein the voucher information is encrypted.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the wager gaming voucher further includes unencrypted voucher information in the indicium needed for decryption.  
   
   
       10 . A method comprising: 
 reading a single wager gaming voucher indicium, wherein the single wager gaming voucher indicium includes, 
 a portable voucher database including a monetary value; and  
 an index into a remote database; and  
   accessing the monetary value without accessing the remote database.    
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the accessing the monetary value is performed without accessing a network.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the portable voucher database also includes voucher information, wherein the accessing step includes accessing the voucher information without accessing a network.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the portable voucher database is encrypted, and wherein the accessing includes decrypting the portable voucher database.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein a public key is used to encrypt and a private key is used to decrypt the portable voucher database.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein symmetric keys are used to encrypt and decrypt the portable voucher database.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the wager gaming voucher further includes unencrypted voucher information in the indicium.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the unencrypted voucher information enables the decrypting of the encrypted portable voucher database.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the single wager gaming voucher indicium resides on a wager gaming voucher, and wherein the portable voucher database includes a first random validation identifier, the method further including, 
 receiving a second random validation identifier;    validating the wager gaming voucher without communicating with any remote computer, wherein the wager gaming voucher is valid if the first random validation identifier matches the second random validation identifier; and    if the wager gaming voucher is valid, dispensing cash in an amount of the monetary value.    
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the first and second random validation identifiers are created by a first and a second random number generator, each random number generator having the same output for a given seed value.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the seed used to generate the first random validation identifier is used in the validating step to determine the second validation number.  
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising: 
 using indicium validation rules to determine whether the single wager gaming voucher indicium is valid.    
   
   
       22 . The wager gaming voucher of  claim 10 , wherein the single indicium is a two-dimensional barcode.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 10 , further including redeeming the wager gaming voucher for the monetary value wherein the accessing the monetary value is performed without accessing a network.  
   
   
       24 . A machine-readable medium that provides instructions which when executed by a machine cause the machine to perform operations comprising: 
 receiving an indication to generate a wager gaming voucher;    generating a portable voucher database;    determining an index for accessing data in a remote database, wherein the data is associated with the wager gaming voucher;    creating an indicium that includes the portable voucher database and the index; and    generating a voucher that includes the indicium.    
   
   
       25 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 24 , the operations further comprising: 
 encrypting the portable voucher database.    
   
   
       26 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 24 , wherein the indicium is a single two-dimensional barcode.  
   
   
       27 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 24 , wherein the portable database includes information selected from the group consisting of a player identifier, a set of player preferences, a validation number, a non-monetary award, a monetary award, game entry data, a lottery entry, and a game state.  
   
   
       28 . A double-sided wager gaming voucher comprising: 
 a first machine-readable indicium including game-specific information, the game-specific information usable by one of a set of wagering game types;    a second machine-readable indicium including a voucher identifier, the voucher identifier associated with data in a remote database, the voucher identifier usable by all of the set of wagering game types.    
   
   
       29 . The wager gaming voucher of  claim 28 , wherein the game-specific information is selected from the set consisting of a player identifier, a set of player preferences, a set of bonus awards, and a game state.  
   
   
       30 . The wager gaming voucher of  claim 28 , wherein the first and second machine-readable indicium are selected from the group of linear barcodes or two-dimensional barcodes.