Patent ID: 8876591

Claim:
A gaming system comprising: a plurality of gaming machines, each gaming machine configured to: (a) enable a player to place a wager to play a wagering game, and (b) for the play of the wagering game: (i) randomly generate a wagering game outcome, (ii) determine any wagering game award associated with the randomly generated wagering game outcome, (iii) display any determined wagering game award, and (iv) provide any determined wagering game award; and a controller configured to communicate with said gaming machines, wherein the controller is programmed to: (a) at designated intervals, randomly determine if a bonus event will occur, wherein said bonus event occurs independent of any of the wagering game outcomes generated in any of the plays of any of the wagering games of any of the gaming machines; and (b) if the bonus event is randomly determined to occur: (i) prior to selecting any of the gaming machines to provide any awards in association with said bonus event: (1) determine which of the gaming machines were in an active state during a bonus event qualification period for said bonus event, wherein said bonus event qualification period includes a designated period of time before the determination that the bonus event will occur, and (2) determine which of the gaming machines were in an enrolled and inactive state during the bonus event qualification period for said bonus event; (ii) randomly select at least one of the gaming machines in the active state, said random selection being based, at least in part, on a total wager amount placed during a bonus event accumulation period for each gaming machine in the active state relative to a total wager amount placed for all of said gaming machines in the active state during the bonus event accumulation period, and (iii) send a signal to the selected gaming machine to cause the selected gaming machine to display and provide a bonus award to a player of said gaming machine, wherein said bonus award is based on: (1) an amount of wagers placed on the gaming machines in the active state, and (2) an amount of wagers placed on the gaming machines in the enrolled and inactive state.