A method and apparatus that collects
demographics from contestants using ubiquitous Internet devices or a new
slot machine on a casino floor. Contestants are given the opportunity to earn points that they can redeem for various prizes that are of interest to them. A plurality of prizes can be selected from a plurality of categories. As the contestants play games of chance, a
pool of advertisements is presented to the contestants. Advertisements from the
pool are selected in accordance with each contestants buying propensity. As contestants play games of chance, the
system infers additional propensities of each user and stores this for later reduction. The reduced data is then sold as marketing data together with a
list of
system users that comprises name, address, phone number and e-mail addresses and the like. The
system is implemented using a
client-
server paradigm. A
server maintains databases needed to track all of the contestants that register with the system. The
client devices, including the new
slot machine, use a standard
web browser as a means to retrieve and display web pages to the contestant. Most web pages have an attached
java-script program that implements the functionality of the present invention. Other web pages that contestants encounter comprise a shell for a
Java applet that embodies a game of chance. The
Java applet that implement games of chance are universal in distribution relying on the
web browser to homogenize the
user interface across a wide range of hardware platforms. The ubiquitous Internet devices and
slot machine are connected to the games either through a wired or
wireless network.