Patent ID: 8651947

Claim:
A method of operating a gaming system including a plurality of gaming devices, said method comprising: (a) enabling each of a plurality of players of the plurality of gaming devices to place at least one wager on at least one play of at least one primary game; (b) upon each occurrence of a first triggering event, accumulating at least one collector for at least one of the players; and (c) upon an occurrence of a second triggering event: (i) enabling a first one of the players to redeem a quantity of collectors accumulated for said first one of the players, (ii) enabling the first one of the players to invite at least a second one of the players to redeem any collectors accumulated for said second one of the players in a bonus event, wherein if the second one of the players redeems any collectors, the first one of the players has a higher bonus event average expected award than if the first one of the players were redeeming collectors alone, and (iii) thereafter, if the first one of the players redeems any of the quantity of collectors accumulated for said first one of the players: (A) causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to randomly associate at least one bonus event award with at least one redeemed collector accumulated for said first one of the players, (B) causing at least one display device to display the bonus event awards randomly associated with the redeemed collectors, and (C) providing the first one of the players any bonus event awards randomly associated with the redeemed collectors.