Granted Patent B2

US 8,454,429 · App. 12/921,335 · Granted Jun 4, 2013

Abstract

Claims (52)

1. A gaming system for playing a wagering game, the gaming system comprising:

an input device configured to receive an indication of a wager to play the wagering game;

at least one display configured to display the wagering game; and

at least one controller operatively configured to:

generate a first outcome of the wagering game;

cause the at least one display to display the first outcome;

award a first award associated with the first outcome;

store the first award in a stored awards group comprising at least one previously awarded award;

cause the at least one display to display the stored awards group comprising the first award, wherein the stored awards group is continuously displayed via the at least one display during successive plays of the wagering game; and

award a second award upon occurrence of a triggering event, the second award comprising one or more of the awards stored in the stored awards group.

2. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the stored awards group is limited to storing a maximum total number of awards, and wherein a second triggering event increases or decreases the maximum total number of awards that can be stored in the stored awards group.

3. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the number of stored awards from the stored awards group awarded in the second award increases or decreases in proportion to the wager.

4. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the stored awards group comprises a plurality of previously awarded awards, the second award comprising the mathematical sum of two or more of the previously awarded awards.

5. The gaming system of claim 2 , wherein a first previous award in a first position of the stored awards group is shifted to a second position of the stored awards group, and the first award is stored in the first position of the stored awards group.

6. The gaming system of claim 4 , wherein the second award comprises all of the awards in the stored awards group.

7. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to generate a second outcome of the wagering game by cascading the first outcome, wherein the triggering event triggering award of the second award comprises the second outcome including at least one predetermined winning outcome.

8. The gaming system of claim 7 , wherein the cascading of the first outcome comprises locking an array of symbols associated with the first outcome in their designated positions within a symbol matrix, removing one or more preselected symbols from the array of symbols in the symbol matrix, and replacing each of the one or more removed preselected symbols with a symbol.

9. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the triggering event comprises a winning streak including at least two consecutive winning outcomes of the wagering game.

10. A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system having at least one input device and at least one display, the method comprising:

receiving an indication of a wager to play the wagering game via the at least one input device;

generating a first outcome of the wagering game;

displaying the first outcome of the wagering game on the at least one display;

awarding a first award associated with the first outcome;

storing the first award in a stored awards group continuously displayed on the at least one display during successive plays of the wagering game, the stored awards group comprising at least one previously awarded award; and

awarding a second award upon occurrence of a triggering event, the second award comprising at least the first award and one or more of the previously awarded awards.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the second award comprises a plurality of previously awarded awards stored in the stored awards group.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising calculating a total re-award comprising the mathematical sum of all previously awarded awards in the stored awards group, wherein the second award is the total re-award.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the triggering event comprises a winning streak including at least two consecutive winning outcomes of the wagering game.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein at or after the first outcome is displayed, the stored awards group is shifted such that the first award is added to a first position of the stored awards group and a previously stored award is removed from the stored awards group.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

generating a second outcome of the wagering game by cascading the first outcome; and

displaying the second outcome on the at least one display, wherein the triggering event triggering awarding of the second award comprises the second outcome including at least one predetermined winning outcome.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the cascading of the first outcome comprises locking an array of symbols associated with the first outcome in their designated positions within a symbol matrix; removing one or more preselected symbols from the array of symbols in the symbol matrix; and replacing each of the one or more preselected symbols with a symbol.

17. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

receiving, following completion of the wagering game, another wager to conduct another play of the wagering game; and

initiating the another play of the wagering game;

wherein the first award is stored in the stored awards group prior to, contemporaneous with, or subsequent to receiving the second wager or prior to the initiating of the another play of the wagering game.

18. One or more physical non-transitory machine-readable storage media including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receive an indication of a wager to play the wagering game;

determine a first outcome of the wagering game;

direct a display device to display the first outcome of the wagering game;

award a first award associated with the first outcome;

store the first award in a stored awards group continuously displayed on the at least one display during successive plays of the wagering game, the stored awards group comprising at least one previously awarded award; and

award a second award upon occurrence of a triggering event, the second award comprising at least the first award and one or more of the previously awarded awards.

19. A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system with at least one input device and at least one display device, the method comprising:

receiving an indication of at least one wager via the at least one input device;

responsive to receiving the indication of at least one wager, successively displaying a plurality of outcomes of the wagering game via the at least one display device;

displaying, via the at least one display device, a stored awards group comprising a plurality of stored award fields, each of the stored award fields displaying a value of a previously awarded award, the stored awards group being continuously displayed via the at least one display device during the successive displaying of the plurality of outcomes of the wagering game;

during the successive displaying of the plurality of outcomes of the wagering game, sequentially storing in the stored awards group and displaying in the stored award fields an award value for each displayed outcome of the wagering game; and

responsive to a triggering event during the successive displaying of the plurality of outcomes of the wagering game, awarding a re-award award comprising a plurality of the awards values stored in the stored awards group.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the values of the previously awarded awards displayed in the stored award fields of the stored awards group includes awards of zero.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the stored awards group is limited to storing a maximum number of awards, and wherein a second triggering event increases or decreases the maximum number of awards that can be stored in the stored awards group.

Assignments (12)