Patent ID: 8313372
Filing Date: 2012-11-20
Classification: G07F

Abstract:
1. A gaming server comprising: a central processing unit and a memory storing program instructions for execution by the central processing unit, the central processing unit generating results of play of multiple instances of a single-player wager game, wherein the multiple instances are aggregated into a multiplayer gaming environment; wherein the multiple instances are played by multiple players each using workstations communicating with the gaming server over a communications network; wherein, the single-player wager game features a pay table in which one of a plurality of possible rewards for a turn of play of the single-player wager game is an award of a multiplier credit useable in a bonus game aspect of the single-player wager game; wherein the gaming server is operative to randomly initiate the play of a bonus game wherein during play of the bonus game, play of all of the aggregated instances of the single-player wager game is temporarily suspended; wherein the bonus game is only played by those players having accumulated at least one multiplier credit prior to the initiation of play of the bonus game by the gaming server; wherein multiplier credit for the players accumulates during a period prior to a triggering of the bonus game by the gaming server and is not subject to decrease during said period due to a change in a rate of play or temporary interruption of play by the players; and wherein the bonus game is characterized by a result for each player participating in the bonus game randomly generated from a set of finite possible outcomes, and winnings in the bonus game being the product of the multiplier credit multiplied by the result, whereby a player participating in the bonus game obtains the winnings in the bonus game from the game's proprietor and the player's winnings are independent of results for other players participating in the bonus game and are not shared with such other players.