Patent ID: 8641509

Claim:
A gaming system comprising: at least one input device; at least one display device; at least one processor; and at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device and the at least one input device to: (a) enable a player to place a bonus opportunity wager associated with a quantity of at least two plays of a wagering game, and (b) if the player placed the bonus opportunity wager: (i) for one of the plays of the wagering game of the quantity of plays of the wagering game: (A) enable the player to place a game wager, (B) generate a game outcome from a plurality of game outcomes, (C) display the generated game outcome to the player, and (D) provide to the player any game award associated with the generated game outcome, (ii) if any of the generated game outcomes is a winning game outcome associated with a game award having a value greater than a threshold value, reset the bonus opportunity counter, wherein said threshold value is greater than zero, and (iii) if each of the generated game outcomes are associated with one of: a losing game outcome associated with a game award having a value of zero and any of a plurality of winning game outcomes associated with any of a plurality of game awards each having a value greater than zero and less than the threshold value: (A) modify the bonus opportunity counter, (B) display to the player the modified bonus opportunity counter, (C) if the modified bonus opportunity counter reaches a designated value, provide a bonus opportunity award to the player, and (D) if the modified bonus opportunity counter has not reached the designated value and has not been reset in association with any of the plays of the wagering game of the quantity of plays of the wagering game, repeat (i) to (iii) for another one of the plays of the wagering game of the quantity of plays of the wagering game.