Method for Operating a Cooperative Game
A cooperative/competitive gaming system includes a plurality of gaming machines, a bonus server and a network for coupling the plurality of gaming machines to the bonus server. A method for operating a cooperative/competitive game includes providing two or more pools having respective levels. Two or more players are permitted to form groups. The groups are allowed to play for pool levels based on the number of players in the group.
1 . In a cooperative/competitive gaming system including a plurality of gaming machines, a bonus server and a network for coupling the plurality of gaming machines to the bonus server, a method for operating a cooperative/competitive game, comprising:
accumulating two or more bonus awards representing respectively different bonus levels in the bonus server;
facilitating players to form groups of two or more players by and storing data representing the formed groups of players in the bonus server;
receiving data representing wagers and game results from the gaming machines in the bonus server;
determining if a bonus level award is won by a player in a group based on the wager representative data, the group representative data, and the game results representative data; and
allocating the bonus level award among the players in the winning group of players.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the bonus awards are accumulated from buy-in wagers by players.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the bonus awards are accumulated from a portion of all wagers by players.
4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the bonus awards are accumulated as a mystery bonus.
5 . The method of claim 1 wherein facilitating players to form groups occurs in one or more of the following environments: (a) at the gaming machines; (b) in a gaming establishment; and (c) the Internet.
6 . The method of claim 1 wherein determining if a bonus level is to be awarded comprises determining a bonus level to be awarded based on the number of people in the winning group.
7 . The method of claim 6 wherein determining if a bonus level is to be awarded further comprises determining a bonus level based on receiving a buy-in wager from a player.
8 . The method of claim 1 wherein determining if a bonus level is to be awarded comprises determining a bonus level based on receiving a buy-in wager from a player.
9 . The method of claim 1 wherein allocating a bonus level award among the winning group of players comprises allocating an equal amount of the bonus level to each player in the group of players.
10 . The method of claim 1 wherein allocating a bonus level award among the winning group of players comprises allocating a proportion of the bonus level to each player in the group of players based on the wager of each player.