Method and apparatus for awarding a mystery promotional ticket

摘要

A gaming machine award system acts over a gaming machine network having a plurality of gaming devices coupled thereto. The award system includes a bonus server coupled to the network and having stored thereon a trigger condition. A game play tracker tracks game play across the network of gaming devices and detects an occurrence of the trigger condition. The bonus server sends out a selection signal over the network to a selected gaming machine responsive to the detected trigger condition. A printer associated with the selected gaming machine is structured to generate a mystery ticket printed output responsive to receipt of said selection signal including machine-readable indicia corresponding to a record of value stored at the bonus server, and human readable indicia that indicates only a range of possible values of the ticket but not a specific value. The printed ticket is a cashless instrument that may be redeemed or played per the nature and characteristics of the award given with the specific value awarded to the player.