newb with player tracking questions

[bsnw]

Hello everyone. This looks like the perfect thread for my questions. I am a technical person and need some guidance.

I want setup player tracking on my bally s5500. I have a Mastercom 300 and I have purchased a player tracking bar for my slot but it has not arrived yet. So my my questions is related to programming the system. From reading it appears that you do all the programming of the Mastercom through EPROM programming? If this is true what would you recommend for an inexpensive EPROM programmer?

Next does anyone have the manual for a MC300?

If anyone has a general guide on setting up a player tracking that would be awesome as well.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[stormrider]

Hello everyone. This looks like the perfect thread for my questions. I am a technical person and need some guidance.

I want setup player tracking on my bally s5500. I have a Mastercom 300 and I have purchased a player tracking bar for my slot but it has not arrived yet. So my my questions is related to programming the system. From reading it appears that you do all the programming of the Mastercom through EPROM programming? If this is true what would you recommend for an inexpensive EPROM programmer?

Next does anyone have the manual for a MC300?

If anyone has a general guide on setting up a player tracking that would be awesome as well.

Thanks in advance for any help.

When you say setup player tracking are you meaning
changing the message or wanting to use a card and keypad as well ?

I haven't seen any posts on changing the mastercom 300 series
If you want to just change the flashing message on the player tracking display
then get yourself a mastercom 250,very simple to change the 2 lines in that.
Please do a search here on mastercom 250.

Burner 
That has always been a great debate here 
again do a search on(eprom burners) lots to read
many members here use a GQ-4X which is in the $100 range
great for backing up game chips and will do the mastercom 250.

Of course you can spend more money on a faster burner
but for the average home user like most here the GQ-4X is a good choice.

Tim

[bsnw]

Tim thanks for the reply.

I have seen the threads about the 250 and was not sure if much of what applies to the 250 could be used on the 300. New to slots but not technology i know a previous versions do not always apply to next generation. I will just have to tinker with it as if it was a 250 and see what happens.

On the player tracker I want to use it with the card reader and keypad. I would like to have the ability to load a card with large amount of credits and the user plays with the credits from the card. Then as I learn how it all works even maybe have the winnings go to the card on cash out if possible. Then if that works I would have separate cards for users. First step for me is to get the basics setup and then I can learn and go from there.

On the burner it sounds like the GQ 4x is the one to start with. I don't like to spend a lot money on something unless I know I will be getting my money worth. I will start small and move up if needed.

Again thanks for the feed back.

[stormrider]

Well good luck with that project.
I was happy with changing the scrolling and flashing message on the vfd display
all my machines have the player tracker bar installed with custom message running
gives it that extra touch rather than a blank plate.

I thought I had the manual for the 300 series somewhere
If I find it I will email it to you.

Tim

[jay]

Typically player tracking is not used to put credits on the machine.
Casinos use these to track players betting behaviour then offer points based on cash in.
This is a marketing system to try and create casino loyalty.

For credits out / in this is where TITO comes into play.
You have a coupon that gets inserted into the bill validator then it determines that it's not cash so it validates against the casino server and then this system uses EFT (electronics fund transfer) to add credits to the slot.

The home brew TITO has some options around this.

[bsnw]

Well good luck with that project.
I was happy with changing the scrolling and flashing message on the vfd display
all my machines have the player tracker bar installed with custom message running
gives it that extra touch rather than a blank plate.

I thought I had the manual for the 300 series somewhere
If I find it I will email it to you.

Tim

If you do find it please send it my way, Thanks

[bsnw]

Typically player tracking is not used to put credits on the machine.
Casinos use these to track players betting behaviour then offer points based on cash in.
This is a marketing system to try and create casino loyalty.

For credits out / in this is where TITO comes into play.
You have a coupon that gets inserted into the bill validator then it determines that it's not cash so it validates against the casino server and then this system uses EFT (electronics fund transfer) to add credits to the slot.

The home brew TITO has some options around this.

Placing credit on the player card and using credits from the card is a very common use of the player card in modern casinos today. The start of the player card at first was a simple marketing tool as you mentioned. However it has evolved over time and the question will be if my hardware will support the newer use of the players card.
 
Example would be my players card I use on a regular basis at the Silverton Casino here in Las Vegas. I get invites for gifts and when the gift is a set dollar amount of play I use that credit from my players card. I don’t have to do anything because the casino system puts it on my account and I access that credit through the use of my players card. I put my card in the machine and select the option to use the loaded credits. There is even logic built in to the system to prevent me from cashing out through TITO if you have not used that credit. I cannot put my card in, chose to use the credits and turn around and cash out. So if I get $50 credit one month then I can play that credit in any system. However if I have not bet up the original $50 then I will not be able to walk away with a TITO. In the course of my play I bet my $50 and have a balance of $100 then I can cash out through TITO.

Another example is reward points. Some casino has reward points where fro every x amount you spend you get a dollar in credit. For example the Station Casino chain on Wed night you get 1 point fro every $3 you gamble. So many points equal a dollar figure that can be played. 

Since this feature is possible with some hardware, again not sure if mine will do this, I want to get to this point even if it means I need to purchase newer hardware. The loading the winnings back to the card is a wish list if possible. However at this point I only understand the feature based on the user prospective. I am hoping to find the proper information in order to put that logic to work.

[zarobhr]

Typically player tracking is not used to put credits on the machine.
Casinos use these to track players betting behaviour then offer points based on cash in.
This is a marketing system to try and create casino loyalty.

For credits out / in this is where TITO comes into play.
You have a coupon that gets inserted into the bill validator then it determines that it's not cash so it validates against the casino server and then this system uses EFT (electronics fund transfer) to add credits to the slot.

The home brew TITO has some options around this.

Placing credit on the player card and using credits from the card is a very common use of the player card in modern casinos today. The start of the player card at first was a simple marketing tool as you mentioned. However it has evolved over time and the question will be if my hardware will support the newer use of the players card.
 
Example would be my players card I use on a regular basis at the Silverton Casino here in Las Vegas. I get invites for gifts and when the gift is a set dollar amount of play I use that credit from my players card. I don’t have to do anything because the casino system puts it on my account and I access that credit through the use of my players card. I put my card in the machine and select the option to use the loaded credits. There is even logic built in to the system to prevent me from cashing out through TITO if you have not used that credit. I cannot put my card in, chose to use the credits and turn around and cash out. So if I get $50 credit one month then I can play that credit in any system. However if I have not bet up the original $50 then I will not be able to walk away with a TITO. In the course of my play I bet my $50 and have a balance of $100 then I can cash out through TITO.

Another example is reward points. Some casino has reward points where fro every x amount you spend you get a dollar in credit. For example the Station Casino chain on Wed night you get 1 point fro every $3 you gamble. So many points equal a dollar figure that can be played. 

Since this feature is possible with some hardware, again not sure if mine will do this, I want to get to this point even if it means I need to purchase newer hardware. The loading the winnings back to the card is a wish list if possible. However at this point I only understand the feature based on the user prospective. I am hoping to find the proper information in order to put that logic to work.

there are a few of us working on that as we speak, my system although not completely ready to push out live requires a pc for the back end host, and will allow the insertion a a playr card and to download credits and depending on sas version allow credits to be upload back to host. one thing about it is that it does not use the mastercomm, those get pulled out, and just uses the dsiplay, cardreader and keypad that was hooked up to the mastercom

i believe others here may be working on something that will be standalone to the machine but not sure

[bsnw]

Zarobhr,

Thanks. Do you have some directions to get me started. Once I am able to get started I am sure I figure it out. I have plenty of servers around my house so running software on a computer rather than using mastercom is not an issue for me. To start I will need to load the SAS program, where can I obtain this from? Again thanks

[jay]

Typically speaking the player tracking card reads a number from the card. This identifies the player.
Points, and other promotions are not kept on the card they are kept in the computer.

The slot COIN-IN is what is generally used to add points to the player.

To put credits on the machine the computer sends a SAS (Slot Accounting System) EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) to the slot.

Members here have created a homebrew TITO that doesn't require a computer. It basically prints a bar code and then reads it back in.
Unlike a real TITO platform once read the ticket is not de-validated, meaning it can be used over and over again.

Its not a stretch to be able to take an alternate input other than the bar code on the TITO slip (ie from your mastercom) and feed it into the TITO board.
I am not sure how the points would be calculated though.

[zarobhr]

Zarobhr,

Thanks. Do you have some directions to get me started. Once I am able to get started I am sure I figure it out. I have plenty of servers around my house so running software on a computer rather than using mastercom is not an issue for me. To start I will need to load the SAS program, where can I obtain this from? Again thanks

i dont use the sas program on mine, it is completly written by me, i have built special interfaces to connect the reader,keypad, display to the arduino and my host then communicates the sas command and player tracking to the arduino, and arduino talks the the machine.

in a way the arduino is taking the place of the MC250

as i said before it is not quite reader to be sen out to NLG for testing as i still have alot of work to do on it to prefect it so i really dont have anything to share yet.

although if you have some specific question  i am sure i can help

[TZtech]

Hi BNSW

The MC300 is simply a hardware interface between Ballys' software and the machine. The Bally software suite is extremely expensive and only available to legal casinos.

Your best bet is to ditch the Mc300 unit completely and interface the VFD, keypad and cardreader to Your microcontroller of choice (arduino is very popular). 
You can then interface these to a pc and code Your own backend (Like Zarobhr's) system.

PS - the bally S5500 is a pretty old machine - not sure if it supports SAS fully.

Regards
Ian