Incentive system for gaming player tracking

Abstract

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.