Rewarding Player Referrals in a Wagering Game

1 . A computer-implemented method of rewarding player referrals in a primary wagering game, comprising:

registering a new registrant for the primary wagering game through one or more input devices of a computational device;

in response to determining that a referral was made to the new registrant by an existing registrant, designating the new registrant as a referred registrant and the existing registrant as a referring registrant;

selecting at least one of the referred registrant and the referring registrant as a qualified participant for a referral award game;

conducting the referral award game for the at least one qualified participant, the referral award game comprising:

determining a referral award game trigger for initiating the referral award game;

conducting a draw in which a referral award is randomly assigned to each qualified participant, the referral award including a value component usable in at least one of the primary wagering game and a secondary wagering game; and

communicating referral award information to the at least one qualified participant.

2 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , in which the primary wagering game is conducted at a first game venue and the secondary wagering game is conducted at a second game venue, and in which the first and second game venues are selected from a group of game venues consisting of a land-based casino, an on-line casino, and a social website.

3 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , in which the value component comprises a monetary value component including a deposit multiplier applicable to an amount of a deposit transferred by the at least one qualified participant into a wagering account associated with the at least one qualified participant.

4 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , in which the value component comprises a monetary value component including a playable balance.

5 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , in which the value component comprises a virtual value component.

6 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , in which determining the referral award game trigger comprises determining a maximum capacity of qualified participants for the referral award game.

7 . The computer implemented method of claim 6 , in which the referral award game further comprises:

arranging the qualified participants into at least a first tier and a second tier; and

determining a first augment award range associated with the first tier and a second augment award range associated with the second tier.

8 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , in which determining the referral award game trigger comprises:

determining an achievement threshold associated with the primary wagering game; and

determining whether the at least one qualified participant has met the achievement threshold.

9 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , in which:

both the referring registrant and the referred registrant are selected as qualified participants; and

the referral award game further comprises determining a referral group including the referring registrant and the referred registrant.

10 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , in which the referral award game further comprises:

determining an award game participation threshold associated with the referral award game;

determining a referral game participation award when the award game participation threshold is met; and

determining a virtual value component of the referral award.

11 . A gaming system comprising a processor, a memory, in communication with the processor, a display, and an input/output circuit, the processor being physically configured according to computer executable instructions for rewarding player referrals in a primary wagering game, the computer executable instructions comprising instructions for:

registering a new registrant for the primary wagering game through one or more input devices of a computational device;

in response to determining that a referral was made to the new registrant by an existing registrant, designating the new registrant as a referred registrant and the existing registrant as a referring registrant;

selecting at least one of the referred registrant and the referring registrant as a qualified participant for a referral award game;

conducting the referral award game for the at least one qualified participant, the referral award game comprising:

determining a referral award game trigger for initiating the referral award game;

conducting a draw in which a referral award is randomly assigned to each qualified participant, the referral award including a value component usable in at least one of the primary wagering game and a secondary wagering game; and

communicating referral award information to the at least one qualified participant.

12 . The gaming system of claim 11 , in which the value component comprises a monetary value component including a deposit multiplier applicable to an amount of a deposit transferred by the at least one qualified participant into a wagering account associated with the at least one qualified participant.

13 . The gaming system of claim 11 , in which the value component comprises a virtual value component.

14 . The gaming system of claim 11 , in which determining the referral award game trigger comprises:

determining an achievement threshold associated with the primary wagering game; and

determining whether the at least one qualified participant has met the achievement threshold.

15 . The gaming system of claim 11 , in which:

both the referring registrant and the referred registrant are selected as qualified participants; and

the referral award game further comprises determining a referral group including the referring registrant and the referred registrant.

16 . A tangible machine-readable storage media including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

registering a new registrant for a primary wagering game through one or more input devices of a computational device;

in response to determining that a referral was made to the new registrant by an existing registrant, designating the new registrant as a referred registrant and the existing registrant as a referring registrant;

selecting at least one of the referred registrant and the referring registrant as a qualified participant for a referral award game;

conducting the referral award game for the at least one qualified participant, the referral award game comprising:

determining a referral award game trigger for initiating the referral award game;

conducting a draw in which a referral award is randomly assigned to each qualified participant, the referral award including a value component usable in at least one of the primary wagering game and a secondary wagering game; and

communicating referral award information to the at least one qualified participant.

17 . The tangible machine-readable storage media of claim 16 , in which the value component comprises a monetary value component including a deposit multiplier applicable to an amount of a deposit transferred by the at least one qualified participant into a wagering account associated with the at least one qualified participant.

18 . The tangible machine-readable storage media of claim 16 , in which the value component comprises a virtual value component.

19 . The tangible machine-readable storage media of claim 16 , in which determining the referral award game trigger comprises:

determining an achievement threshold associated with the primary wagering game; and

determining whether the at least one qualified participant has met the achievement threshold.

20 . The tangible machine-readable storage media of claim 16 , in which:

both the referring registrant and the referred registrant are selected as qualified participants; and

the referral award game further comprises determining a referral group including the referring registrant and the referred registrant.