Patent ID: 8585484

Claim:
A method of conducting a wagering game having a basic game and a continuous bonus game, comprising: continually displaying free plays of the continuous bonus game on a secondary display of a wagering game machine, the continually displaying free plays including displaying a randomly selected outcome for each of the free plays of the continuous bonus game, and for each winning outcome of the free plays of the continuous bonus game, displaying, on the secondary display, a respective bonus award of credits; while continually displaying the free plays of the continuous bonus game, conducting a session of the basic game on a wagering game machine, including: receiving a wager from a player to play the basic game on the wagering game machine; in response to the receiving, displaying a randomly selected outcome of the basic game on a primary display of the wagering game machine during the displaying the randomly selected outcomes of the free plays of the continuous bonus game on the secondary display; repeating the acts of receiving and displaying the randomly selected outcome of the basic game at least once; and in response to the randomly selected outcome of the basic game being a winning outcome, awarding a basic award of credits to the player; triggering the bonus game such that the player is eligible to be awarded one of the respective bonus awards for a predetermined number of free plays of the continuous bonus game; displaying the randomly selected outcome for one of the predetermined number of the free plays of the continuous bonus game; and in response to the player being eligible and to the displayed randomly selected outcome for the one of the predetermined number of the free plays of the continuous bonus game being a winning outcome, providing the respective bonus award of credits associated with the one of the predetermined number of the free plays of the continuous bonus game to the player.