Patent ID: 8235801

Claim:
A gaming device operable under control of a processor, said gaming device comprising: at least one first input device in communication with the processor, said at least one first input device configured to enable a player to deposit an amount of money, the deposited amount of money being sufficient to wager on a plurality of plays of a game; a memory device in communication with the processor and configured to store a value representing the deposited amount of money; a credit display meter configured to display the value representing the deposited amount of money; and at least one second input device in communication with the processor, said at least one second input device configured to enable the player to wager a portion of the deposited amount of money to initiate each of said plurality of plays of the game; wherein the processor is programmed to: (a) determine whether the deposited amount of money is at or above a designated amount of money; and (b) for each and every one of the plurality of plays of the game on which the player is enabled to wager a portion of the deposited amount of money: (i) receive an indication of a wager amount placed for said play of the game, wherein the wager amount placed for said play of the game is selected by the player from a plurality of different possible wager amounts; (ii) if it was determined that the deposited amount of money was not at or above the designated amount of money, provide the player with a first award opportunity resulting from the wager amount placed for said play of the game, said first award opportunity employing a first paytable, such that an outcome of said first award opportunity is at least partially determined by the processor; and (iii) if it was determined that the deposited amount of money was at or above the designated amount of money, provide the player with a second different award opportunity resulting from the wager amount placed for said play of the game, regardless of whether a remaining amount of the deposited amount of money falls below the designated amount of money, said second different award opportunity employing a second different paytable, such that an outcome of the second different award opportunity is at least partially determined by the processor.