Patent ID: 7867078

Claim:
A method for conducting, on a gaming apparatus, an interdependent combination of a primary game and a bonus feature, the method comprising the steps for: conducting on the gaming apparatus the primary game, comprising: generating a primary game outcome; evaluating the primary game outcome against winning criteria and a triggering criterion; upon fulfillment of one of the winning criteria, assigning an award to a player; and upon fulfillment of the triggering criterion, placing the primary game in a suspended state and initiating conduct of the bonus feature, while otherwise resuming conduct of the primary game, and the step for: conducting on the gaming apparatus the bonus feature, comprising: conducting bonus feature in a plurality of processing steps to provide a plurality of feature outcomes; evaluating said feature outcomes resulting from the bonus-feature processing steps against a primary-game ticket criterion; upon fulfillment of the primary-game ticket criterion, placing the bonus feature in a suspended state, storing bonus-feature data representative of the suspended state of the bonus feature, establishing a bonus-feature resuming criterion, and resuming conduct of the primary game, wherein the conduct of the resumed primary game after being resumed during the conduct of the bonus feature comprises the steps of: generating a resumed primary game outcome; evaluating the resumed primary game outcome against the winning criteria and the bonus-feature resuming criterion; and upon fulfillment of one of the winning criteria, assigning an award to a player; and upon fulfillment of the bonus-feature resuming criterion, resuming conducting the bonus feature according to the stored bonus-feature data, thereby continuing conducting the bonus feature in regard of the already-conducted processing steps.