Patent ID: 8882585

Claim:
A gaming system comprising: a plurality of gaming apparatuses, each gaming apparatus including: at least one display unit configured to display a primary game and a bonus game, and at least one input device; and at least one controller configured to operate with said gaming apparatuses to: (a) determine if a qualifying event occurs in association with one of said gaming apparatuses; (b) if the qualifying event occurs in association with one of said gaming apparatuses: (i) if said gaming apparatus is associated with none of a plurality of bonus game entries, associate at least one of the plurality of bonus game entries with said gaming apparatus, wherein each bonus game entry is associated with a probability of winning the bonus game, and (ii) if said gaming apparatus is associated with at least one of said plurality of bonus game entries: (A) cause said gaming apparatus to enable a player to elect to obtain another one of said plurality of bonus game entries or increase the probability of winning the bonus game associated with at least one of said bonus game entries associated with said gaming apparatus, (B) if the player makes an input to elect to obtain another one of said plurality of bonus game entries, associate at least one of the plurality of bonus game entries with said gaming apparatus, said bonus game entries being associated with said gaming apparatus prior to an initiation of said bonus game, and (C) if the player makes an input to elect to increase the probability of winning the bonus game associated with at least one of said bonus game entries associated with said gaming apparatus, increase the probability of winning the bonus game associated with at least one of said bonus game entries associated with said gaming apparatus, said increase in the probability of winning the bonus game occurring prior to an initiation of said bonus game; (c) thereafter, repeat (a) to (b) at least once, wherein (a) to (b) are repeated until the bonus game is initiated, the initiation of the bonus game occurring distinct from any occurrence of the qualifying event; and (d) when the bonus game is initiated, without associating any additional bonus game entries with any of said plurality of gaming apparatuses in association with said initiated bonus same determine and display an outcome for said bonus game, wherein said determined and displayed outcome is based on the probabilities of winning the bonus game associated with the bonus game entries associated with said gaming apparatuses.