it is known for a gaining machine to issue a ticket or voucher having a value or an associated value as credit . it is a problem that such information carriers may become lost or stolen and subsequently redeemed by others . in the disclosed method , a player first registers and provides a first code to a gaming establishment and a value of credit available with which to play . a ticket is issued with a generated second code . on inserting the ticket in a gaming machine , prior to gaming being permitted , the gaming machine detects the second code and requires the player to enter the first code . the gaming machine validates the codes at the machine against corresponding codes stored elsewhere and permits gaming only when at least one of the codes matches . thus , a ticket in accordance with the present invention will not be suitable for use other than by the player to whom the information carrier belongs since a third party will not have access to either the player provided code or the generated ticket code .