Patent ID: 8758118

Claim:
Apparatus for determining the award of a plurality of sets of prizes where each prize in each set has a respective prize value, the apparatus including: memory configured to store data indicative of a plurality of prize values, wherein each prize value is associated with one of a plurality of sets; an input device being responsive to input signals from a respective plurality of gaming terminals for providing an increment signal; an increment device configured to access the memory to define a current prize value as a selected one of the prize values from a selected one of the sets; and increment, upwardly or downwardly, an accumulated value from a start value toward the current prize value in response to the increment signal; a comparator configured to periodically compare the accumulated value with the current prize value, and, for each such comparison, in the case that the accumulated value has incremented, upwardly or downwardly, to or beyond the prize value: generating an award signal thereby to award a prize having the current prize value; and removing the selected prize value from the selected one of the plurality of sets; and a controller that is responsive to the award signal for determining if the selected one of the plurality of sets includes at least one remaining prize value and: if so, actuating the increment device to define a new current prize value corresponding to a remaining prize value in the selected one of the sets and increment, upwardly or downwardly, the accumulated value from the old current prize value toward the new current prize value in response to the increment signal; and if not, actuating the increment device to define a new current prize value corresponding to one of the prize values from another one of the sets, and resetting the accumulated value to a new start value.