GAMING SYSTEM, GAMING DEVICE AND METHOD PROVIDING TIERED PROGRESSIVE BONUSING SYSTEM

• US 20100120498A1
• Filed: 11/12/2008
• Published: 05/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Saffari, Mohammed A., Cuddy, Ryan W., Wolf, Bryan D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,092,302 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3209 Input means, e.g. buttons, touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3255 Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3258 Cumulative reward schemes, e.g. jackpots
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3276 wherein the players compete, e.g. tournament

Abstract

The gaming system and method disclosed herein provides a plurality of players with an opportunity to win a plurality of progressive awards maintained by the gaming system. The gaming system accumulates a quantity of progressive event points for each player playing at one of the gaming machines in the gaming system. In one embodiment, the gaming system uses an accumulated quantity of progressive event points for a designated player to determine which one or more of the progressive awards the designated player wins. In another embodiment, the gaming system uses an accumulated quantity of progressive event points to determine the designated player'"'"'s probability of winning one or more of the progressive awards. Accordingly, the gaming system provides a point-based system in which either a progressive award to win or a probability of winning a progressive award is determined based on the quantities of progressive event points accumulated by the players.

Claims

1. A gaming system central controller comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with a plurality of gaming devices to;

(a) maintain a plurality of progressive awards,

(b) for each of a plurality of players, upon an occurrence of a point accumulation event, accumulate a quantity of progressive event points for that player, and

(c) after an occurrence of a triggering event;

(i) determine a designated wager amount placed by each of the players playing at the plurality of gaming devices during a designated period of time,

(ii) select one of the players playing at one of the gaming devices during the designated period of time to win one of the progressive awards, the selection based on the designated wager amount placed by the selected player during the designated period of time,

(iii) assign the selected player to one of a plurality of progressive event tiers based on the quantity of progressive event points accumulated for the selected player, each one of the progressive awards associated with a probability of being provided for the assigned progressive event tier,

(iv) randomly select at least one of the progressive awards in accordance with the probabilities associated with the assigned progressive event tier, and

(v) cause the at least one randomly selected progressive award to be provided to the selected player.

2. The gaming system central controller of claim 1, wherein the plurality of progressive awards are arranged as a multi-level progressive award.

3. The gaming system central controller of claim 1, wherein each one of the progressive awards is associated with a probability of being provided for each of the plurality of progressive event tiers.

4. The gaming system central controller of claim 3, wherein each one of the progressive event tiers is associated with a different range of progressive event points, each of the ranges including a minimum progressive event point value and a maximum progressive event point value.

5. The gaming system central controller of claim 1, wherein when executed by the at least one processor, the plurality of instructions cause the at least one processor to determine whether the point accumulation event has occurred in association with a game being played at each of the gaming devices, and if the point accumulation event has occurred in association with the game being played at one of the gaming devices, track the quantity of progressive event points accumulated for the player playing the game at said gaming device.

6. The gaming system central controller of claim 1, wherein when executed by the at least one processor, the plurality of instructions cause the at least one processor to select one of the players playing at one of the gaming devices based on the designated wager amount placed by that player relative to the designated wager amounts placed by the other players at the other gaming devices.

7. The gaming system central controller of claim 1, wherein when executed by the at least one processor, the plurality of instructions cause the at least one processor to select one of the players playing at one of the gaming devices based on the designated wager amount placed by that player during the designated period of time relative to the designated wager amounts placed by the other players at the other gaming devices during the designated period of time.

8. A gaming system central controller comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with a plurality of gaming devices to;

(a) maintain a primary progressive award and a plurality of secondary progressive awards,

(b) for each of a plurality of players, upon an occurrence of a point accumulation event, accumulate a quantity of progressive event points for that player,

(c) cause an occurrence of a primary triggering event during a designated period of time, the primary triggering event being associated with the primary progressive award,

(d) after the occurrence of the primary triggering event;

(i) determine a designated wager amount placed by each one of the players prior to the occurrence of the primary triggering event,

(ii) select one of the players to be provided the primary progressive award, the selection based on the designated wager amount placed by the selected player prior to the occurrence of the primary triggering event,

(iii) cause the primary progressive award to be provided to the selected player,

(iv) assign each one of the players to one of a plurality of progressive event tiers based on the accumulated quantity of progressive event points for that player, each one of the progressive event tiers being associated with a different one of the plurality of secondary progressive awards, and

(v) for each progressive event tier assigned at least one player;

(A) determine which of the players assigned to the progressive event tier will be provided the associated secondary progressive based on the designated wager amount each assigned player placed prior to the occurrence of the primary triggering event, and

(B) cause the associated secondary progressive award to be provided to the determined player, and

(e) after an occurrence of a secondary triggering event, the secondary triggering event being associated with a designated one of the secondary progressive awards;

(i) assign each of the players to one of a plurality of progressive event tiers based on the accumulated quantity of progressive event points associated with each player, a designated progressive event tier being associated with the designated one of the secondary progressive awards, and

(ii) for the designated progressive event tier;

(A) determine which of the players assigned to the designated progressive event tier will be provided the designated one of the secondary progressive awards based on the designated wager amount each assigned player placed prior to the occurrence of the secondary triggering event, and

(B) cause the designated one of the secondary progressive awards to be provided to the determined player.

9. The gaming system central controller of claim 8, wherein the plurality of secondary progressive awards are arranged as a multi-level progressive award.

10. The gaming system central controller of claim 9, wherein each one of the progressive event tiers is associated with a different level of the multi-level progressive award.

11. The gaming system central controller of claim 8, wherein when executed by the at least one processor, the plurality of instructions cause the at least one processor to select one of the players playing at one of the gaming devices based on the designated wager amount placed by that player relative to the designated wager amounts placed by the other players at the other gaming devices.

12. The gaming system central controller of claim 8, wherein when executed by the at least one processor, the plurality of instructions cause the at least one processor to select one of the players playing at one of the gaming devices during the designated period of time based on the designated wager amount placed by that player prior to the occurrence of the primary triggering event relative to the designated wager amounts placed by the other players at the other gaming devices prior to the occurrence of the primary triggering event.

13. A gaming system central controller comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with a plurality of gaming devices to;

(a) maintain a plurality of progressive awards,

(b) for each of a plurality of players, upon an occurrence of a point accumulation event, accumulate a quantity of progressive event points for that player, and

(c) after an occurrence of a triggering event;

(i) select one of the players based on a designated wager amount placed prior to the triggering event,

(ii) assign the selected player to one of the plurality of progressive event tiers based on the quantity of progressive event points accumulated for the selected player,

(iii) for each one of a plurality of the progressive awards, determine whether to provide said progressive award in accordance with a probability associated with the assigned progressive event tier, and

(iv) if the determination is to provide at least one of the progressive awards, cause said at least one of the progressive awards to be provided to the selected player.

14. The gaming system central controller of claim 13, wherein the plurality of progressive awards are arranged as a multi-level progressive award.

15. The gaming system central controller of claim 13, wherein each one of the progressive event tiers is associated with a different range of progressive event points, each of the ranges including a minimum progressive event point value and a maximum progressive event point value.

16. The gaming system central controller of claim 13, wherein when executed by the at least one processor, the plurality of instructions cause the at least one processor to determine, for each one of the maintained progressive awards, whether to provide said progressive award in accordance with a probability associated with the assigned progressive event tier.

17. The gaming system central controller of claim 13, wherein when executed by the at least one processor, the plurality of instructions cause the at least one processor to select one of the players based on the designated wager amount placed by the selected player prior to the triggering event relative to the designated wager amount placed by each of the other players at the other gaming devices prior to the triggering event.

18. A gaming system comprising:

a plurality of gaming devices, and

at least one central controller configured to operate with the plurality of the gaming devices to;

(a) maintain a plurality of progressive awards,

(b) for each of a plurality of players, if a designated symbol combination is generated in association with a play of a game, accumulate a quantity of progressive event points for that player, and

(c) after an occurrence of a triggering event;

(i) select one of the players to win one of the progressive awards, the selection being based on a designated wager placed by the selected player,

(ii) assign the selected player to one of a plurality of progressive event tiers based on the quantity of progressive event points accumulated for the selected player, each one of the progressive awards associated with a probability of being provided for the assigned progressive event tier,

(iii) randomly select at least one of the progressive awards in accordance with the probabilities associated with the assigned progressive event tier, and

(iv) cause the at least one randomly selected progressive award to be provided to the selected player.

19. The gaming system of claim 18, wherein, for at least one of the players, the quantity of progressive event points accumulated for that player is based on a quantity of the designated symbol combinations generated in association with the play of the game for that player.

20. The gaming system of claim 18, wherein, for at least one of the players, the quantity of progressive event points accumulated for that player is based on the designated symbol combination generated in association with the play of the game for that player.

21. A gaming system comprising:

a plurality of gaming devices, and

at least one central controller configured to communicate with the plurality of the gaming devices and programmed to operate with said gaming devices to;

(a) maintain a primary progressive award and a plurality of secondary progressive awards,

(b) for each of a plurality of players, if a designated symbol combination is generated in association with a play of a game, accumulate a quantity of progressive event points for that player,

(c) cause an occurrence of a primary triggering event within a designated period of time, the primary triggering event being associated with the primary progressive award,

(d) after the occurrence of the primary triggering event;

(i) select one of the players to be provided the primary progressive award, the selection based on a designated wager placed by the selected player,

(ii) cause the primary progressive award to be provided to the selected player,

(iii) assign each one of the players to one of a plurality of progressive event tiers based on the accumulated quantity of progressive event points for that player, each one of the progressive event tiers being associated with a different one of the plurality of secondary progressive awards, and

(iv) for each progressive event tier assigned at least one player;

(A) determine which of the players assigned to the progressive event tier will be provided the associated secondary progressive based on the designated wager amount each assigned player placed, and

(B) cause the associated secondary progressive award to be provided to the determined player, and

(e) after an occurrence of a secondary triggering event, the secondary triggering event being associated with a designated one of the secondary progressive awards;

(i) assign each of the players to one of a plurality of progressive event tiers based on the accumulated quantity of progressive event points associated with each player, a designated progressive event tier being associated with the designated one of the secondary progressive awards, and

(ii) for the designated progressive event tier;

(A) determine which of the players assigned to the designated progressive event tier will be provided the designated one of the secondary progressive awards based on the designated wager amount each assigned player placed, and

(B) cause the designated one of the secondary progressive awards to be provided to the determined player.

22. The gaming system of claim 21, wherein, for at least one of the players, the quantity of progressive event points accumulated for that player is based on a quantity of the designated symbol combinations generated in association with the play of the game for that player.

23. The gaming system of claim 21, wherein, for at least one of the players, the quantity of progressive event points accumulated for that player is based on the designated symbol combination generated in association with the play of the game for that player.