Slots-fueled adventure

1. A method comprising:

sending an interface to a client computer for a betting game to be played by a player;

starting an online game that is displayed in the interface for the betting game;

detecting a bet placed in the betting game;

determining an outcome of the bet in the betting game;

advancing an avatar along a path of the online game, wherein an amount of advancement of the avatar is based on the outcome of the bet;

invoking an API of a social network to identify friends of the player in the social network;

detecting when friends of the player are in a section of the path visible to the player in the game; and

displaying in the interface the friends of the player that are in the section of the path, wherein operations of the method are executed by a processor.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein advancing the avatar further includes:

placing a first currency on the path, wherein the first currency is unusable for betting on the betting game; and

collecting the first currency on the path as the avatar advances along the path.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 , further including:

awarding first currency when the outcome is a loss of the bet.

4. The method as recited in claim 2 , further including:

awarding a first amount of first currency when the outcomes is a loss of the bet; and

awarding a second amount of first currency when outcome is a win of the bet.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the path includes milestones, wherein the method further includes:

providing a game reward each time the avatar reaches a milestone while advancing along the path.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein determining an outcome of the bet further includes:

evaluating game mechanics rules; and

determining the outcome based on the game mechanics rules.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 , wherein the game mechanics rules include one or more of a probability of winning for each possible win in the game, a big win threshold value for determining when a big win occurs, or sharing amounts when sharing big wins with other players.

8. The method as recited in claim 1 , further including:

presenting in the interface one or more choices for characters to be used as the avatar;

receiving a selection for one of the characters; and

using the selected character as the avatar in the game.

9. The method as recited in claim 8 , further including:

defining parts for building a first character; and

making the first character available for selection as the avatar after a player has collected the parts.

10. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein operations of the method are performed by a computer program when executed by one or more processors, the computer program being embedded in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

11. A server for executing a game, the server comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory memory in communication with the processor, the processor being operable to:

send an interface to a client computer for a betting game to be played by a player;

start an online game that is displayed simultaneously with the interface for the betting game;

determine an outcome of the bet in the betting game;

advance an avatar along a path of the online game, wherein an amount of advancement of the avatar is based on the outcome of the bet;

invoke an API of a social network to identify friends of the player in the social network;

detect when friends of the player are in a section of the path visible to the player in the game; and

display in the interface avatars of the friends of the player that are in the section of the path.

12. The server of claim 11 , wherein the non-transitory memory further includes program instructions for a social manager that manages social relationships of players in the game.

13. The server of claim 11 , wherein the advance of the avatar includes:

placing a first currency on the path, wherein the first currency is unusable for betting on the betting game; and

collecting the first currency on the path as the avatar advances along the path.

14. The server of claim 13 , wherein the advance of the avatar further includes:

awarding first currency when the outcomes is a loss of the bet.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer-readable storage medium comprising:

program instructions for sending an interface to a client computer for a betting game to be played by a player;

program instructions for starting an online game that is displayed simultaneously with the interface for the betting game;

program instructions for detecting a bet placed in the betting game;

program instructions for determining an outcome of the bet in the betting game;

program instructions for advancing an avatar along a path of the online game, wherein an amount of advancement of the avatar is based on the outcome of the bet;

program instructions for invoking an API of a social network to identify friends of the player in the social network;

program instructions for detecting when friends of the player are in a section of the path visible to the player in the game; and

program instructions for displaying in the interface a profile picture of the friends of the player that are in the section of the path.

16. The storage medium as recited in claim 15 , further including:

program instructions for enabling an user to collect parts, wherein a new avatar is added to a plurality of avatars when a player collects all parts required to build the new avatar.

17. The storage medium as recited in claim 16 , further including:

program instructions for enabling the user to collect the parts by buying the parts.

18. The storage medium as recited in claim 16 , further including:

program instructions for enabling the user to collect the parts by completing game tasks.

19. The storage medium as recited in claim 15 , wherein each avatar from a plurality of avatars have unique game characteristics, the game characteristics including one or more of speed, strength, fighting ability, or collection ability.