Abstract: An apparatus for use in a gaming machine has a controller and an AC power line modem. The controller and the AC power line modem send gaming machine data to a remote host polling computer via the AC power line in response to a polling request. A bank of gaming machines, each having a controller and an AC power line modem, may communicate with the host computer via the same AC power line. The gaming machine controller is adapted to communicate with a remote host computer via a plurality of different communication media, such as an AC power line, airwaves using radio frequency, and dedicated data lines. The gaming machine controller directly receives hard counts from pay-in devices of a gaming machine and transmits the hard counts to the remote polling computer. The gaming machine controller also uses a mask list to collect only the status codes, such as error codes, which the polling computer asks it to collect and transmit.