GAMBLING MACHINE SYSTEM OPERATED WITHOUT COINS, CHIP CARD ADAPTER MODULE THEREFOR AND PROCESS FOR OPERATING A GAMBLING MACHINE SYSTEM WITHOUT COINS

摘要

A gambling machine system is disclosed which may be operated by chip cards (19) instead of cash. For that purpose, conventional gambling machines (1) are provided with a chip card adapter module (10) connected to the gambling machine (1) instead of the coin checking arrangement (coin slot) and hopper (coin outlet). The chip card adapter module (10) has a control and input arrangement (12, 14, 16) for inputting a determined stake, a chip card read/write arrangement (18), a machine interface (26) for connecting to the gambling machine, a signal generating arrangement (22) for generating signals equivalent to the output signals generated by coin checking arrangements of coin-operated gambling machines, and corresponding to the inputted stake, and a converter (24) for converting signals such as the hopper control signals of coin-operated gambling machines into corresponding control signals for controlling a memory arrangement (19, 21, 34). A plurality of gambling machines (1) provided with chip card adapter modules (10) may be connected by a network (30) to a central computer (34).