The display monitor 34 will typically be a cathode ray tube, high resolution flat-panel LCD, or other conventional electronically controlled video monitor. The information panel 36 may be a back-lit, silk-screened glass panel with lettering to indicate general game information including, for example, the number of coins played. Many possible games of chance, including traditional slot games, video slot games, poker games, pachinko games, multiple hand poker games, pai-gow poker games, black-jack games, keno games, bingo games, roulette games, craps games, checkers, board games and card games may be provided with gaming machines of this invention.

The bill validator [0056] 30, coin acceptor 28, player-input switches 32, video display monitor 34, and information panel are devices used to play a game of chance on the game machine 2. Theuser wishes to play the gaming machine [0061] 2, he or she inserts cash through the coin acceptor 28 or bill validator 30. The player may also insert a gaming token used as an indicia of credit or activate an indicia of credit stored on a cashless instrument, such as a smart card, magnetic striped card or printed ticket via an input device on the gaming machine. As an example, the bill validator may accept printed ticket vouchers, which may be accepted by the bill validator 30, as indicia of credit for game play. The cashless instruments may also store promotional credits, which may be used for game play on the gaming machine. During the game, the player typically views game information and game play using the video