Patent ID: 8202151

Claim:
A method of competitive bonus game for use with a gaming networking having a game processor and a plurality of gaming machines, the method including: receiving a first wager at a said gaming machine for a first game; detecting occurrences of a first outcome during play of said first game among the gaming machines; identifying each of said gaming machines that have detected the occurrence of a first outcome; entering at least one of the identified said plurality of gaming machines into a competition mode in response to an event having been triggered; in a first round of competition in said competition mode, determining, via the game processor, a first score for each of said identified gaming machines dependent on a number of occurrences of said first outcome on the respective said identified gaming machine prior to said event having been triggered; progressing each of said identified gaming machines to a next round of competition in response to a respective said score being within a range; in said next round of competition, determining a second score for each of said identified gaming machines that have progressed into said next round dependent on a number of occurrences of said first outcome prior to said event having been triggered; awarding an award to a said gaming machine that progresses through all rounds of the competition; and displaying representations the competition.