Patent ID: 6869361

Claim:
A method of tracking a player's participation in a plurality of bonus games shared among a plurality of players in a gaming system which randomly selects a winning entry registered to a winning player from a current entry pool, said method comprising: detecting said player's use of a gaming device in communication with said gaming system; detecting a current bonus round; detecting current entries generated by said player using said gaming device during said current bonus round; detecting past entries registered to said player; detecting a triggering event indicating a start of a current bonus game of said plurality of bonus games; querying if said player is eligible to participate in said current bonus game; if said player is eligible to participate in said current bonus game, including said current entries in said current entry pool and distributing said past entries among said current entry pool, a next entry pool and a predefined number of subsequent entry pools according to a first par sheet; if said player fails to be eligible to participate in said current bonus game, querying if said player has relinquished control of said gaming device and, if no, designating said current entries as said past entries; detecting completion of said current bonus game; and clearing said current entry pool.