Importance

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Abstract

A system of linked gaming machines is disclosed where each of the linked gaming machines is connected to a common controller. In a normal mode of play, each of the linked gaming machines operates like a conventional machine where the generation of certain combinations of symbols provide awards to the individual players whose machines generate such combinations. In addition to this normal mode of play, a bonus feature is added where the generation of combinations of bonus symbols is used by a central controller to build up a pooled bonus value based upon the values of the combinations of bonus symbols generated by all the linked gaming machines. When a player hits a combination which causes the accumulated bonus value to meet or exceed a predetermined value, a bonus award is given to the player which caused the threshold to be exceeded. To discourage players from not playing any of the linked gaming machines until the accumulated bonus value is near the threshold, each machine has an independent hit counter which is incremented based upon the number of occurrences of bonus combinations generated by that machine. The player may use the value in his/her individual hit counter in order to exceed the award threshold for the bonus award. Other embodiments of slot machines using the above concepts are described.

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First Claim