Gaming system and method providing a plurality of awards and a cumulative award

Abstract

Various embodiments of the gaming system of the present disclosure provide a plurality of source awards and a cumulative award maintained by the gaming system. The cumulative award increments or accumulates over multiple plays of one or more primary games based on amounts won in connection with the source awards. Each time one of the source awards is triggered, the value of the cumulative award is incremented or increased by an amount based on the triggered source award. When a designated number of source awards have been triggered, the gaming system provides the cumulative award to one or more players.

1 . A gaming system comprising:
 a controller; and   a plurality of gaming devices configured to communicate with the controller, each of the gaming devices including at least one display device operable to display a primary game, the primary game configured to operate upon a wager by a player;   wherein the controller is programmed to operate with the plurality of gaming devices to:
 (a) maintain a plurality of source awards, each of said source awards having a different value; 
 (b) maintain a cumulative award; 
 (c) for a plurality of plays of the primary games, for each occurrence of at least one designated outcome:
 (i) cause one of the gaming devices to provide at least a portion of one of said source awards to the player of said gaming device, 
 (ii) increment the cumulative award by an amount based on the provided source award, and 
 (iii) increment a tracked quantity of provided source awards; and 
 
 (d) when the tracked quantity of provided source awards reaches a designated quantity, cause at least one gaming device to provide the cumulative award to the player of said at least one gaming device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the source awards are progressive awards. 
     
     
         3 . The gaming system of  claim 2 , wherein the progressive awards are funded based, at least in part, on wagers placed on the primary games of the gaming devices. 
     
     
         4 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one designated outcome occurs in the plays of the primary games. 
     
     
         5 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein which of the source awards is provided to the player of said gaming device is based on which of said at least one designated outcome occurs. 
     
     
         6 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the source awards is associated with a different designated outcome. 
     
     
         7 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein, each time the cumulative award is incremented, the cumulative award is incremented by an amount which is equal to a value of the provided source award. 
     
     
         8 . A gaming system comprising:
 a controller; and   a plurality of gaming devices configured to communicate with the controller, each of the gaming devices including at least one display device operable to display a primary game, the primary game configured to operate upon a wager by a player;   wherein the controller is programmed to operate with the plurality of gaming devices to:
 (a) maintain a plurality of source awards, each of said source awards having a different value; 
 (b) maintain a cumulative award, wherein at a first point in time said cumulative award has an initial reset value; 
 (c) for a plurality of plays of the primary games, for each occurrence of at least one designated outcome;
 (i) cause one of the gaming devices to provide at least a portion of one of the source awards to the player of said at least one gaming device, and 
 (ii) increment the cumulative award by an amount based on the provided source award; and 
 
 (d) upon a cumulative award triggering event, cause at least one gaming device to provide the cumulative award to the player of said at least one gaming device, wherein a value of the provided cumulative award is based, at least in part, on each of the provided source awards. 
   
     
     
         9 . The gaming system of  claim 8 , wherein the source awards are progressive awards. 
     
     
         10 . The gaming system of  claim 9 , wherein the progressive awards are funded based, at least in part, on wagers placed on the primary games of the gaming devices. 
     
     
         11 . The gaming system of  claim 8 , wherein said at least one designated outcome occurs in the plays of the primary games. 
     
     
         12 . The gaming system of  claim 8 , wherein which of the source awards is provided to the player of said gaming device is based on which of said at least one designated outcome occurs. 
     
     
         13 . The gaming system of  claim 8 , wherein each of the source awards is associated with a different designated outcome. 
     
     
         14 . The gaming system of  claim 8 , wherein, each time the cumulative award is incremented, the cumulative award is incremented by an amount which is equal to a value of the provided source award. 
     
     
         15 . The gaming system of  claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured, for each of the source awards, to track a quantity of times said source award is provided. 
     
     
         16 . The gaming system of  claim 15 , wherein the cumulative award triggering event occurs when any combination of the source awards have been provided a designated quantity of times. 
     
     
         17 . The gaming system of  claim 15 , wherein the cumulative award triggering event occurs when each of said source awards has been provided a designated number of times. 
     
     
         18 . The gaming system of  claim 8 , wherein, after said cumulative award is provided to the player of said at least one gaming device, the cumulative award is reset to the default value. 
     
     
         19 . A gaming system comprising:
 a controller; and   a plurality of gaming devices configured to communicate with the controller, each of the gaming devices including at least one display device operable to display a primary game, the primary game configured to operate upon a wager by a player;   wherein the controller is programmed to operate with the plurality of gaming devices to:
 (a) maintain a plurality of source awards, each of said source awards having a different value; 
 (b) maintain a cumulative award; 
 (c) provide one or more of the plurality of source awards a plurality of times over a plurality of plays of the primary games; 
 (d) each time a source award is provided, increment the cumulative award by an amount based on the provided source award; and 
 (e) when a designated number of source awards have been provided, cause at least one gaming device to provide the cumulative award to the player of said at least one gaming device. 
   
     
     
         20 . The gaming system of  claim 19 , wherein the source awards are progressive awards. 
     
     
         21 . The gaming system of  claim 20 , wherein the progressive awards are funded based, at least in part, on wagers placed on the primary games of the gaming devices. 
     
     
         22 . A gaming system comprising:
 a controller; and   a plurality of gaming devices configured to communicate with the controller, each of the gaming devices including at least one display device operable to display a primary game, the primary game configured to operate upon a wager by a player;   wherein the controller is programmed to operate with the plurality of gaming devices for a plurality of plays of the primary games to:
 (a) maintain a plurality of progressive awards levels, each of said progressive award levels associated with a progressive award value; 
 (b) maintain a cumulative award; 
 (c) for each of said plurality of plays of the primary games:
 (i) generate an outcome for said play of the primary game, and 
 (ii) if the generated outcome includes at least one designated outcome,
 (A) increment an accumulated quantity of said designated outcomes, 
 (B) provide at least a portion of one of the progressive award values associated with one of the progressive award levels to the player of said gaming device, and 
 (C) add an amount based on the provided progressive award value to the cumulative award; and 
 
 
 (d) when the accumulated quantity of said designated outcomes reaches a designated quantity, provide the cumulative award to at least one of the players of said gaming devices. 
   
     
     
         23 . The gaming system of  claim 22 , wherein the progressive award values are funded based, at least in part, on wagers placed on the primary games of the gaming devices.