Acres Gaming, Inc.

Joseph G Hart

Richard Jay Schneider

Lawrence R Pitman

Robert P Bartholomew

Michael B Shelby

Joseph W Canon

A method and apparatus for awarding bonuses over a gaming network having a plurality of gaming machines, such as slot machines, interconnected by a network. Play is allowed to occur on a plurality of gaming machines as the bonus pool, common to the gaming machines over the network is incremented responsive to play on the plurality of gaming machines. The total number of eligible gaming machines is detected responsive to play on each of the plurality of gaming machines. A first threshold value is set in consideration of the total number of eligible gaming machines detected. A bonus period would be initiated when the bonus pool satisfies the first threshold value. Accordingly, the threshold necessary to start the bonus period would be low if few players are detected, and high if many players are detected. Bonus amounts are paid from the bonus pool to the eligible gaming machines after which time the bonus period would end. Alternately, bonuses would be paid responsive to detected triggering events during the bonus period, such as the occurrence of a special symbol on the slot machine reels. The bonus period would end when the bonus pool moves below a second threshold value after which time the bonus pool would be incremented for subsequently occurring bonus periods.

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Corvallis, OR, United States of America

Joseph G Hart