Patent ID: 8376841

Claim:
A gaming system comprising a plurality of linked gaming machines, each gaming machine having a display and a game controller arranged to control images displayed on the display, the gaming system further comprising: a jackpot prize having a value that is winnable by a player of one of said gaming machines, wherein awarding of said jackpot prize is triggered through a trigger event occurring at one of said plurality of gaming machines during play of said one gaming machine; and a progressive jackpot controller, linked to each of the gaming machines, for controlling the awarding of the jackpot prize to one of said plurality of gaming machines, and said progressive jackpot controller configured to increase the value of the jackpot prize when one of a plurality of predetermined prize altering events randomly occurs at one of said plurality of gaming machines during play of said gaming machine; wherein each of said plurality of prize altering events is associated with a respective amount by which to increase the value of the jackpot prize and, in response to one of the prize altering events occurring at a gaming machine, the value of the jackpot prize is increased by the respective amount associated with the prize altering event; and wherein, in response to the triggering event occurring at a gaming machine, the progressive jackpot controller awards the value of the jackpot prize amount to the player of the gaming machine on which the trigger event occurs.