Gaming system having multiple gaming machines which provide bonus awards
First Claim
1. A method of operating a gaming system, said gaming system including a server in communication with a plurality of gaming machines wherein each gaming machine includes a primary game configured to operate upon a wager placed by a player, said method comprising:
- (a) causing the server to execute a plurality of instructions to determine if a bonus event will occur; and
(b) if the bonus event is determined to occur;
(i) causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to determine a quantity of said gaming machines to participate in the bonus event, said quantity being greater than one;
(ii) causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to determine which of the gaming machines were in an active state during a bonus event qualification period for said bonus event;
(iii) for each gaming machine in the active state, causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to determine a probability to participate in the bonus event based on the total wagers placed during a bonus event accumulation period for said gaming machine relative to the total wagers placed for all gaming machines in the active state during the bonus event accumulation period, said determination of the probability to participate in the bonus event being independent of determining any awards in association with the bonus event;
(iv) after determining the probability to participate in the bonus event for each gaming machine in the active state, for each of the determined quantity of said gaming machines to participate in the bonus event, causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to select one of the gaming machines in the active state based on the determined probability to participate in the bonus event, wherein the selection of one of the gaming machines in the active state based on the determined probability to participate in the bonus event is independent of determining any awards in association with the bonus event and at least one of the gaming machines is configured to be selected a plurality of times even if said gaming machine was previously selected to participate in the bonus event; and
(v) causing at least one display device to display the bonus event at at least each of the selected gaming machines.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A gaming system including a central server linked to a plurality of gaming machines and a plurality of bonus awards. The central server monitors wagers on the gaming machines. Based at least in part on the wagers the central server determines when bonus events will occur and which gaming machine(s) will provide the bonus awards. In one embodiment, the central server determines which gaming machine will provide a primary bonus award and any secondary bonus awards, wherein at least one gaming machine may be provided a plurality of bonus awards.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of operating a gaming system, said gaming system including a server in communication with a plurality of gaming machines wherein each gaming machine includes a primary game configured to operate upon a wager placed by a player, said method comprising:
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(a) causing the server to execute a plurality of instructions to determine if a bonus event will occur; and (b) if the bonus event is determined to occur; (i) causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to determine a quantity of said gaming machines to participate in the bonus event, said quantity being greater than one; (ii) causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to determine which of the gaming machines were in an active state during a bonus event qualification period for said bonus event; (iii) for each gaming machine in the active state, causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to determine a probability to participate in the bonus event based on the total wagers placed during a bonus event accumulation period for said gaming machine relative to the total wagers placed for all gaming machines in the active state during the bonus event accumulation period, said determination of the probability to participate in the bonus event being independent of determining any awards in association with the bonus event; (iv) after determining the probability to participate in the bonus event for each gaming machine in the active state, for each of the determined quantity of said gaming machines to participate in the bonus event, causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to select one of the gaming machines in the active state based on the determined probability to participate in the bonus event, wherein the selection of one of the gaming machines in the active state based on the determined probability to participate in the bonus event is independent of determining any awards in association with the bonus event and at least one of the gaming machines is configured to be selected a plurality of times even if said gaming machine was previously selected to participate in the bonus event; and (v) causing at least one display device to display the bonus event at at least each of the selected gaming machines. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of operating a gaming system, said gaming system including a server in communication with a plurality of gaming machines wherein each gaming machine includes a primary game configured to operate upon a wager placed by a player, said method comprising:
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(a) causing the server to execute a plurality of instructions to determine if a bonus event will occur; and (b) if the bonus event is determined to occur; (i) causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to determine a quantity of said gaming machines to participate in the bonus event, said quantity being greater than one; (ii) causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to determine which of the gaming machines were in an active state during a bonus event qualification period for said bonus event; (iii) for each gaming machine in the active state, causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to determine a probability to participate in the bonus event based on the total wagers placed during a bonus event accumulation period for said gaming machine relative to the total wagers placed for all gaming machines in the active state during the bonus event accumulation period, said determination of the probability to participate in the bonus event being independent of determining any awards in association with the bonus event; (iv) after determining the probability to participate in the bonus event for each gaming machine in the active state, causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to select one of the gaming machines in the active state to participate in the bonus event, wherein the selection of one of the gaming machines in the active state to participate in the bonus event is independent of determining any awards in association with the bonus event and said selection is based on the determined probabilities to participate in the bonus event; (v) causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to determine if the determined quantity of gaming machines to participate in the bonus event has been selected; (vi) if the determined quantity of gaming machines to participate in the bonus event has not been selected, causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to repeat (iv) to (vi) at least once, wherein at least one of the gaming machines is configured to be selected a plurality of times even if said gaming machine was previously selected to participate in the bonus event; and (vii) causing at least one display device to display the bonus event at at least each of the selected gaming machines. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of operating a gaming system, said gaming system including a server in communication with a plurality of gaming machines wherein each gaming machine includes a primary game configured to operate upon a wager placed by a player, said method comprising:
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(a) causing the server to execute a plurality of instructions to determine if a bonus event will occur; and (b) if the bonus event is determined to occur; (i) for each gaming machine, causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to determine a probability to participate in the bonus event based on the total wagers placed during a bonus event accumulation period for said gaming machine relative to the total wagers placed for all gaming machines during the bonus event accumulation period; (ii) for a first determination, after determining the probability to participate in the bonus event for each gaming machine and independent of determining any awards in association with the bonus event, causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to select one of the gaming machines to participate in the bonus event, wherein said selection is based on the determined probabilities to participate in the bonus event; (iii) for a second determination, after determining the probability to participate in the bonus event for each gaming machine and independent of determining any awards in association with the bonus event, causing the server to execute the plurality of instructions to select one of the gaming machines to participate in the bonus event, wherein said selection is based on the determined probabilities to participate in the bonus event, and wherein the gaming machine selected to participate in the bonus event for the first determination is configured to be selected to participate in the bonus event for the second determination; and (iv) causing at least one display device to display the bonus event at at least each of the selected gaming machines. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification