1. A system for rewarding members of a player group with a shared award in response to play by an award winner during play of a wagering game, comprising: a database for storing personal interest information regarding one or more players, wherein the personal interest information places the one or more players into one or more player groups; an identification element, having identification data associated therewith, issued to at least player one of the one or more players, the identification element used by the at least one player to identify the at least one player when participating in gaming activity; one or more computer servers configure to: receive identification data from at least one player; determine the identify of at least one player who is an award winner and determine at least one other player who is in a common player group with the award winner; distribute at least a portion of the award to the award winner; and distribute at least a portion of award to at least one other player who is in a common player group with the award winner.