IMPROVED PRESENTATION OF MULTI-LEVEL MYSTERY BONUS AWARDS
In one aspect, a system displays a winning one of multiple mystery bonus awards before identifying a winner of the winning award from among a plurality of players of base games. In another aspect, the system displays a winning one of multiple mystery bonus awards after identifying a winner of the winning award from among a plurality of players of base games.
1 . A method of conducting a game of chance comprising:
identifying at least two of a plurality of player awards;
selecting one of the identified player awards;
identifying one of a plurality of players to receive the selected player award; and
identifying the selected player award.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein identifying one of a plurality of players to receive the selected player award occurs before identifying the selected player award.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the selected player award occurs before identifying one of a plurality of players to receive the selected player award.
4 . The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the selected player award occurs substantially simultaneously with identifying one of a plurality of players to receive the selected player award.
5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the player awards comprise bonus awards and wherein the method further comprises identifying at least one award resulting from a base game pay table.
6 . The method of claim 5 wherein the player awards comprise progressive awards.
7 . The method of claim 6 wherein the progressive awards accumulate in separate pools from which an award is made.
8 . The method of claim 7 wherein at least one of the player awards comprises a mystery award.
9 . The method of claim 1 wherein identifying at least two of a plurality of player awards comprises displaying the identified awards on a rotatable wheel.
10 . The method of claim 9 wherein identifying the selected player award comprises stopping relative movement of a pointer and the wheel.
11 . The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the selected player award comprises controlling a light adjacent the selected player award.
12 . The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the identified awards comprises a mystery award.
13 . A method of conducting a game of chance comprising:
displaying at least two of a plurality of mystery bonus awards;
identifying one of a plurality of players of a base game to receive one of the mystery bonus awards; and
thereafter identifying which of the mystery bonus awards the player will receive.
14 . The method of claim 13 wherein the method further comprises providing the identified mystery bonus award to the player.
15 . The method of claim 13 wherein the method further comprises providing at least one award resulting from a base game pay table.
16 . The method of claim 13 wherein the mystery bonus awards comprise progressive awards.
17 . The method of claim 16 wherein the progressive awards accumulate in separate pools from which an award is made.
18 . The method of claim 13 wherein displaying at least two of a plurality of mystery bonus awards comprises displaying awards on a rotatable wheel.
19 . The method of claim 18 wherein identifying which of the mystery bonus awards the player will receive comprises stopping relative movement of a pointer and the wheel.
20 . The method of claim 13 wherein identifying which of the mystery bonus awards the player will receive comprises controlling a light adjacent a display of the identified mystery bonus award.
21 . A method of conducting a game of chance comprising:
displaying at least two of a plurality of mystery bonus awards;
identifying which of the mystery bonus awards one of a plurality of players of a base game will receive; and
thereafter identifying the player to receive the identified mystery bonus award.
22 . The method of claim 21 wherein the method further comprises providing the identified mystery bonus award to the identified player.
23 . The method of claim 21 wherein the method further comprises providing at least one award resulting from a base game pay table.
24 . The method of claim 21 wherein the mystery bonus awards comprise progressive awards.
25 . The method of claim 24 wherein the progressive awards accumulate in separate pools from which an award is made.
26 . The method of claim 21 wherein displaying at least two of a plurality of mystery bonus awards comprises displaying awards on a rotatable wheel.
27 . The method of claim 26 wherein identifying which of the mystery bonus awards one of a plurality of players of a base game will receive comprises stopping relative movement of a pointer and the wheel.
28 . The method of claim 21 wherein identifying which of the mystery bonus awards one of a plurality of players of a base game will receive comprises controlling a light adjacent a display of the mystery bonus award.
29 . A gaming system comprising:
an award mechanism configured to award a winning one of at least two awards;
a mechanism configured to identify one of at least two displayed awards as a winning award; and
an indicator configured to indicate a winner of the winning award at a time different from when the winning award is identified.
30 . The gaming system of claim 29 wherein the awards comprise bonus awards and wherein the system further comprises at least one base game.
31 . The gaming system of claim 29 wherein at least one of the awards comprises a mystery award.
32 . The gaming system of claim 29 wherein the mechanism configured to identify one of at least two displayed awards as a winning award comprises a rotatable wheel having at least two segments that correspond to the awards.
33 . The gaming system of claim 32 wherein the mechanism configured to identify one of at least two displayed awards as a winning award further comprises a pointer that is movable relative to the wheel.
34 . The gaming system of claim 29 wherein the indicator configured to indicate a winner of the winning award comprises a display.
35 . The gaming system of claim 29 wherein the time different from when the winning award is identified occurs before the winning award is identified.
36 . The gaming system of claim 29 wherein the time different from when the winning award is identified occurs after the winning award is identified.