Anonymous player tracking with mobile devices
First Claim
1. A method in a server including a processor, a memory and a network interface comprising:
- receiving, via the network interface, transaction information regarding participation in an activity within a casino enterprise;
determining, based upon the transaction information, that the activity is not attributable to registered customers with loyalty program accounts in a loyalty program provided by the casino enterprise;
determining a location of a purchase of the activity;
receiving via the network interface wireless signal data from a plurality of portable wireless devices deployed within the casino enterprise;
determining, based upon the wireless signal data, a location for each of the plurality of portable wireless devices;
determining that at least a first portable wireless device is within a threshold distance from the location of the purchase of the activity;
generating a virtual customer and a virtual customer account;
storing device identification information that allows the first portable wireless device to be uniquely identified and the transaction information regarding participation in the activity to the virtual customer account wherein the virtual customer'"'"'s participation in future activities can be identified based upon at least a detection of the wireless signal data from the first portable wireless device;
receiving, via the network interface, transaction information regarding participation in a second activity within a casino enterprise;
determining, based upon the transaction information, that the second activity is not attributable to the registered customers with the loyalty program accounts for the loyalty program provided by the casino enterprise;
determining a location of the purchase of the second activity;
determining that a the first portable wireless device and a second wireless device are within the threshold distance from the location of the purchase of the second activity;
storing the transaction information regarding the participation in the second activity to the virtual customer account; and
storing the transaction information regarding the participation in the second activity to a second virtual customer account wherein the second wireless device is associated with the second virtual customer account.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A monitoring system for monitoring customer activities within a casino enterprise is described. The monitoring system can be used to determine a current utilization of casino activities so that an optimal mixture of activities can be offered by the casino. Further, the system can be used to identify customers, based on their utilization of the activities, whose loyalty that a casino enterprise may wish to cultivate. In particular embodiments, the monitoring system can be configured to passively track portable wireless devices and associate the portable wireless devices with activities within the casino enterprise that are not attributable to customers registered in a loyalty program. The identity of the person controlling a particular portable device can be unknown. A virtual customer account can be created where the first portable device is used to identify a virtual customer associated with the account. Based upon identification of the first portable device, activities can be associated with the virtual customer and store to the virtual customer account.
110 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method in a server including a processor, a memory and a network interface comprising:
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receiving, via the network interface, transaction information regarding participation in an activity within a casino enterprise; determining, based upon the transaction information, that the activity is not attributable to registered customers with loyalty program accounts in a loyalty program provided by the casino enterprise; determining a location of a purchase of the activity; receiving via the network interface wireless signal data from a plurality of portable wireless devices deployed within the casino enterprise; determining, based upon the wireless signal data, a location for each of the plurality of portable wireless devices; determining that at least a first portable wireless device is within a threshold distance from the location of the purchase of the activity; generating a virtual customer and a virtual customer account; storing device identification information that allows the first portable wireless device to be uniquely identified and the transaction information regarding participation in the activity to the virtual customer account wherein the virtual customer'"'"'s participation in future activities can be identified based upon at least a detection of the wireless signal data from the first portable wireless device; receiving, via the network interface, transaction information regarding participation in a second activity within a casino enterprise; determining, based upon the transaction information, that the second activity is not attributable to the registered customers with the loyalty program accounts for the loyalty program provided by the casino enterprise; determining a location of the purchase of the second activity; determining that a the first portable wireless device and a second wireless device are within the threshold distance from the location of the purchase of the second activity; storing the transaction information regarding the participation in the second activity to the virtual customer account; and storing the transaction information regarding the participation in the second activity to a second virtual customer account wherein the second wireless device is associated with the second virtual customer account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method in a server including a processor, a memory and a network interface comprising:
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receiving, via the network interface, transaction information regarding participation in an activity within a casino enterprise; determining, based upon the transaction information, that the activity is not attributable to registered customers with loyalty program accounts in a loyalty program provided by the casino enterprise; determining a location of a purchase of the activity; receiving via the network interface wireless signal data from a plurality of portable wireless devices deployed within the casino enterprise; determining, based upon the wireless signal data, a location for each of the plurality of portable wireless devices; determining that at least a first portable wireless device is within a threshold distance from the location of the purchase of the activity; generating a virtual customer and a virtual customer account; storing device identification information that allows the first portable wireless device to be uniquely identified and the transaction information regarding participation in the activity to the virtual customer account wherein the virtual customer'"'"'s participation in future activities can be identified based upon at least a detection of the wireless signal data from the first portable wireless device; determining that the first portable wireless device and a second portable wireless device are within the threshold distance from the location of the purchase of the activity; generating a second virtual customer and a second virtual customer account; and storing device identification information that allows the second portable wireless device to be uniquely identified and the transaction information regarding participation in the activity to the second virtual customer account wherein the virtual customer'"'"'s participation in future activities can be identified based upon at least a detection of the wireless signal data from the second portable wireless device. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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Specification