Jackpot server, a method of processing a jackpot win and a gaming system

1. A method of processing a jackpot win in a gaming network, the method comprising:

providing a jackpot server;

receiving jackpot claim data at the jackpot server, said jackpot claim data having a corresponding jackpot record;

locking said jackpot record corresponding to the jackpot claim data;

aggregating outstanding jackpot contributions for the locked jackpot record from the remaining contributing parts of the gaming network;

forming a prize from said aggregated outstanding jackpot contributions after the jackpot win has occurred; and

communicating prize data corresponding to the prize to a network destination identified by the jackpot claim data.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , and further comprising opening a new jackpot record to which new jackpot contributions may be made while outstanding jackpot contributions are aggregated.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein opening a new jackpot record comprises generating a new jackpot record.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein a new jackpot identifier is allocated to the new jackpot record, and the method further comprising communicating the new jackpot identifier to each participating gaming server.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 , and further comprising maintaining a record at the jackpot server for each of a plurality of participating gaming servers of the gaming network.

6. A jackpot server for a gaming network, the jackpot server arranged to:

receive jackpot claim data, said jackpot claim data having a corresponding jackpot record;

lock said jackpot record corresponding to the jackpot claim data;

aggregate outstanding jackpot contributions for the locked jackpot record from the remaining contributing parts of the gaming network;

form a prize from said aggregated outstanding jackpot contributions after the jackpot win has occurred; and

communicate prize data corresponding to the prize to a network destination identified by the jackpot claim data.

7. A jackpot server as claimed in claim 6 , and further comprising a jackpot database comprising the jackpot record.

8. A jackpot server as claimed in claim 7 , and further arranged to open a new jackpot record in the jackpot database to which new jackpot contributions may be made while outstanding jackpot contributions are aggregated.

9. A jackpot server as claimed in claim 7 , and wherein the jackpot database comprises a game server contribution record for each of a plurality of participating game servers for each jackpot record, and wherein the jackpot server tracks game server contributions to each jackpot by each game server.

10. A gaming network comprising:

a jackpot server; and

a plurality of participating gaming servers each of which is connected to one or more participating gaming clients, the participating gaming clients and gaming servers implementing game instances that contribute to a jackpot, and wherein

the jackpot server arranged to:

receive jackpot claim data from one of the participating gaming servers, said jackpot claim data having a corresponding jackpot record;

lock a jackpot record corresponding to the jackpot claim data;

aggregate outstanding jackpot contributions for the locked jackpot record from the remaining contributing parts of the gaming network;

form a prize from said aggregated outstanding jackpot contributions after the jackpot win has occurred; and

communicate prize data corresponding to the gaming server identified by the jackpot claim data.

11. A gaming network as claimed in claim 10 , and wherein the jackpot server comprises a jackpot database comprising the jackpot record.

12. A gaming network as claimed in claim 10 , and wherein the jackpot server is further arranged to open a new jackpot record in the jackpot database to which new jackpot contributions may be made while outstanding jackpot contributions are aggregated.

13. A gaming network as claimed in claim 11 , and wherein the jackpot database comprises a game server contribution record for each of a plurality of participating game servers for each jackpot record, and wherein the jackpot server can track game server contributions to each jackpot by each game server.

14. A gaming network as claimed in claim 10 , and wherein the gaming clients are connected to the gaming servers by application servers.