Patent ID: 8187089

Claim:
A gaming system for playing a wagering game, comprising: a display for displaying a base game of the wagering game in response to receiving a play wager from a player; and a controller coupled to the display and programmed to determine a bonus multiplier and a bonus eligibility time for the player based on a base wager, at least one of the bonus multiplier and the bonus eligibility time being a function of both the base wager and the play wager, trigger a bonus game in response to a bonus triggering event, if sufficient bonus eligibility time is available to the player when the bonus game is triggered, allow the player to participate in the bonus game, provide a plurality of player-selectable options including a first option and a second option, the first option indicating a first value of the bonus multiplier associated with a first value of the bonus eligibility time, the second option indicating a second value of the bonus multiplier associated with a second value of the bonus eligibility time, the first value of the bonus multiplier being different than the second value of the bonus multiplier, the first value of the bonus eligibility time being different than the second value of the bonus eligibility time and in response to receiving a player selection of one of the options of the player-selectable options, modify current values of the bonus multiplier and the bonus eligibility time to respective values of the selected option.