Abstract: In some embodiments, the present invention is directed to a stand-alone vending machine that includes at least: a housing; a dispensing combination, including: a holding tray; a first plurality of pockets positioned at a one side of the holding tray; a first separation mechanism; where the first separation mechanism is operationally connected to the holding tray and the first plurality of pockets; where the first separation mechanism is configured to separate each dispensing object only from a first plurality of dispensing objects; a second plurality of pockets positioned at another side of the holding tray; a second separation mechanism; where the second separation mechanism is operationally connected to the holding tray and the second plurality of pockets; where the second separation mechanism is configured to separate each dispensing object only from the second plurality of dispensing objects.

Abstract: In some embodiments, the present invention provides for a method, including: providing a first component including a first game-operating device, operationally interconnecting the first component to a second component to form a second game-operating device; where the first game-operating device is a stand-alone operating device, and where the second component is a dedicated auxiliary device, delivering from the second component at least one auxiliary service which has not been previously provided by the first component, where the at least one auxiliary service selected from the group including: a card reading service, an online connection service, a responsible gaming service, a player tracking and loyalty service, a multimedia service, a side game service, a user identification service, and an identity protection service.

Abstract: In some embodiments, the present invention is directed to a vending machine which includes at least the following components: at least one pocket-dispenser combination within an interior of the vending machine; where the at least one pocket-dispenser combination comprises: i) a plurality of pockets and ii) at least one dispenser; and where the plurality of pockets are vertically positioned during a dispensing operation of the vending machine so that: i) each of the plurality of pockets longitudinally extends along a vertical axis of the vending machine, and ii) equal distances are maintained between bottoms of the plurality of pockets and the at least one dispenser, where the bottoms of the plurality of pockets face down during the dispensing operation of the vending machine.