Patent 12027015 was granted and assigned to IGT on July, 2024 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A method of implementing a player tracking system in a gaming network includes receiving a virtual player tracking card identifier and a virtual player tracking card password, authenticating the identifier and the password; receiving a virtual player tracking card PIN, identifying a gaming machine that transmitted the virtual player tracking card PIN, and crediting an account associated with the virtual player tracking card PIN based on game play on the gaming machine.