A disclosed method provides for tournament gaming. The method comprises: allowing a wager on non-modified base game in normal mode and awarding pay table prize for a winning event on said base game; monitoring said base game wager and win data; processing a calculated normalized tournament score using said monitored data spanning multiple base game plays; and providing a tournament game and awarding a tournament prize to at least one tournament winner; wherein the tournament score calculation also uses the theoretical payout percentage for the base game in determining player ranking.
1. A gaming device-enabled method for tournament gaming, the gaming device-enabled method comprising:
providing one or more servers that are connected to a physical network including a tournament server and a player tracking server;
providing a plurality of gaming devices that are connected to the one or more servers via the physical network, each gaming device including a first display on which a base game is presented using a first processor and a secondary display on which a tournament game is presented using a second processor;
receiving a wager on the base game on a gaming device of the plurality of gaming devices and awarding a pay table prize, using the first processor, for a winning event on said base game on the first display of the gaming device;
monitoring, using the player tracking server, base game wager data of the plurality of gaming devices for bonus point accrual;
monitoring, using the tournament server, the base game wager and data for the winning event;
calculating, via the tournament server, a calculated normalized tournament score using said monitored data spanning multiple base game plays on the gaming device, wherein a tournament score calculation also uses a theoretical payout percentage for the base game in determining player ranking; and
using the tournament server, providing a tournament game and awarding a tournament prize to at least one tournament winner on a gaming device of the plurality of gaming devices.
2. The method in claim 1 , wherein the tournament game is provided as a free bonus or is player funded.
3. The method in claim 1 , wherein entry into the tournament is automatic or upon player selection.
4. The method in claim 1 , wherein the tournament score is displayed on the player tracking user interface.
5. The method in claim 1 , wherein a tournament leader board is displayed on the player tracking user interface.
6. The method in claim 1 , wherein the tournament game requires expenditure of bonus game credits.
7. The method in claim 1 , wherein the tournament game is displayed on a display different than the based game display.
8. The method in claim 1 , wherein the tournament game is executed on a computing device different than the base game computing device.
9. The method in claim 1 , wherein participants in tournament gaming play a plurality of different theme base games.
10. The method in claim 9 , wherein one or more of each of the plurality of different theme base games have different payout percentages.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein one or more of each of the plurality of different theme base games have different available denominators.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein one or more of each of the plurality of different theme base games have different wager amounts.
13. The method of claim 9 , wherein one or more of each of the plurality of different theme base games have different pay tables.
14. The method of claim 9 , wherein one or more of each of the plurality of different theme base games have different volatilities.
15. The method of claim 9 , wherein one or more of each of the plurality of different theme base games have different bonus rounds.
16. A gaming system for tournament gaming, the gaming system comprising:
providing one or more servers that are connected to a physical network including a tournament server and a player tracking server;
providing a plurality of gaming devices that are connected to the one or more servers via the physical network, each gaming device including a first display on which a base game is presented using a first processor and a secondary display on which a tournament game is presented using a second processor; and
a tournament controller connected to the physical network, wherein the tournament controller generates and pushes real-time tournament scores or rankings to at least one gaming machine;
wherein the player tracking server monitors base game wager data of the plurality of gaming devices for bonus point accrual;
wherein the gaming system enables wagering on the base game on a gaming device of the plurality of gaming devices, and awarding a pay table prize, using the first processor, for a winning event on said base game on the first display of the gaming device;
wherein the tournament server monitors said base game wager and data for the winning event, and wherein the tournament server processes, using a server processor, a calculated normalized tournament score using said monitored data spanning multiple base game plays on the gaming device, and wherein the gaming system provides, using the tournament server, a tournament game and awards a tournament prize to at least one tournament winner;
wherein a tournament score calculation also uses a theoretical payout percentage for the base game in determining player ranking.
17. A computer program product for providing tournament gaming using a network, wherein one or more servers and a plurality of gaming devices are connected to the one or more servers via the network, the one or more servers that are connected to the network including a tournament server and a player tracking server, each gaming device including a first display on which a base game is presented using a first processor and a secondary display on which a tournament game is presented using a second processor, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing software instructions that, when executed by one or more computer processors, perform the steps of:
receiving a wager on the base game on a gaming device of the plurality of gaming devices, and awarding a pay table prize, using the first processor, for a winning event on said base game on the first display of the gaming device;
monitoring, using the player tracking server, base game wager data of the plurality of gaming devices for bonus point accrual;
monitoring, using the tournament server, the base game wager and data for the winning event;
calculating, via the tournament server, a calculated normalized tournament score using said monitored data spanning multiple base game plays on the gaming device, wherein a tournament score calculation also uses a theoretical payout percentage for the base game in determining player ranking; and
providing, using the tournament server, a tournament game and awarding a tournament prize to at least one tournament winner on a gaming device of the plurality of gaming devices.