Patent ID: 8888578

Claim:
A gaming system, comprising: A first gaming device having a first base game processor to control play of a base game, the first gaming device having one or more system processors having a game monitoring module to monitor play of the base game and having a rewards system module to control play of a bonus game on the first gaming device, the bonus game being available on the first gaming device only through play of the base game; A first server having an accounting system, the first server to communicate base game data with the game monitoring module using a first protocol, the first server coupled to the first gaming device; A second server having a rewards system to track play points and threshold points responsive to play of the base game, the play points to provide currency used to play the bonus game on the first gaming device, and the threshold points to provide currency needed to enable play of the bonus game on the first gaming device, with the number of play points used for the bonus game being determined by the number of play points accrued minus the number of play points in a pay table specifying the play points that are decremented when a bonus game is played, the second server to communicate rewards information with the rewards system module of the first gaming device using a third protocol, the second server coupled to the first gaming device; wherein the one or more system processors and the game monitoring module communicate base game data to the second server using a second protocol; and wherein the second server having the rewards system communicates to the rewards system module when the play points exceed the threshold points to trigger play of the bonus game on the first gaming device.