wagering the following day.
The '445 patent describes a personal progressive bonus. This bonus allows the player to play on several different gaming machines and still allow the bonus to be obtained. The player uses a player card to permit the system to track the player's contribution to the player's own person progressive bonus amount. This amount then is eligible to be won only by the player.
Another type of bonus promotion is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,445 in which a selected reel combination of the gaming machine is used as a trigger event for a bonus award. During a predetermined period of time, an initial bonus amount is continuously decremented in value until one of the players is first to obtain the particular reel combination.
However, none of theforegoing patents provides to a player a tier of rewards based on the player's activity at many different game locations during a period of time. This deficiency may decrease the level of interest in play (i) due to the player's inability to compete with himself or herself in pursuit of an award, or (ii) due to the potential that another player will win the award caused in part by the player's gaming actions. This invention addresses the problems presented by the foregoing patents and provides a solution.