Gaming System And Method

Abstract

A secondary game system, in various embodiments, comprises a system of networked game terminals where a player playing a game on a game terminal can earn eligibility to win a prize from a secondary game that plays simultaneously in the background. The secondary game may be triggered based on play on the plurality of networked terminals. This allows the player to play a first game that earns them eligibility to win another game that is played in the background. The player sends a game initiation request for a game (e.g., lottery slot) to be played on the game terminal. If a certain criterion is satisfied, the player becomes eligible to win a prize from the secondary game if the secondary game is triggered while the player is eligible to win.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 associating, by one or more computer processors, each player of a plurality of players with a respective account of electronic credits;   receiving, by the one or more computer processors, a request from at least one player of the plurality of players to play a first game at a terminal;   receiving, by the one or more computer processors, an amount of electronic credits required to play for the at least one player;   facilitating, by the one or more computer processors, play of the first game for the at least one player;   determining, by the one or more computer processors, if any of the plurality of players have electronic credits remaining on the respective accounts;   in response to determining that any of the plurality of players have electronic credits remaining on the respective accounts,
 initiating, by the one or more computer processors, play of a second game after receiving the request from the at least one player to play the first game; and 
 awarding, by the one or more computer processors, at least a portion of the prize of the second game to the at least one player of the plurality of players that has credits remaining on the respective account at the time the second game is initiated. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the prize is a shared prize. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 triggering, by the one or more computer processors, play of the second game based at least in part on receiving the request from the at least one player.   
     
     
         4 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, by one or more computer processors, a request from at least one player to play a game at a terminal;   facilitating, by the one or more computer processors, play of the game at the terminal based at least in part on receiving the request;   establishing, by the one or more computer processors, a bonus time period for the at least one player based at least in part on receiving the request from the at least one player;   initiating, by the one or more computer processors, play of a second game at a particular point in time;   determining, by the one or more computer processors, if the bonus time period runs coincident with the particular point in time;   determining, by the one or more computer processors, whether play of the second game results in a non-zero prize; and   in response to determining play of the second game results in a non-zero prize and the bonus time period runs coincident with the particular point in time, awarding, by the one or more computer processors, at least a portion of the non-zero prize to the at least one player, wherein once the second game is initiated to play, a server conducts all play of the second game without input from the at least one player until play of the second game is terminated.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , further comprising at least partially in response to receiving the request from the at least one player, triggering play of the second game. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , further comprising at least partially in response to triggering of the second game:
 capturing an image of a display associated with the at least one player if the bonus time period runs coincident with the particular point in time; and   storing the image on the terminal.   
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , further comprising notifying the at least one player of the award of the at least a portion of the non-zero prize. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , further comprising decrementing the bonus time period for the at least one player. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , further comprising incrementing the bonus time period for the at least one player when additional requests are received from the at least one player to play the game at the terminal. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , further comprising receiving requests from a plurality of players to play the game. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 10 , further comprising at least partially in response to receiving the requests from the plurality of players, establishing a bonus time period for one or more of the plurality of players. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , further comprising determining if the bonus time periods associated with the one or more of the plurality of players runs coincident with the particular point in time. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , further comprising awarding at least a portion of the non-zero prize to each of the one or more of the plurality of players who have a bonus time period that runs coincident with the particular point in time. 
     
     
         14 . A computer-implemented method of playing a sweepstakes game, the method comprising:
 receiving, by one or more computer processors from a plurality of players, a plurality of requests to play at least one sweepstakes game;   at least partially in response to receiving the plurality of requests to play the at least one sweepstakes game, facilitating, by the one or more computer processors, play of the at least one sweepstakes game for each of the plurality of players making a request by selecting an electronic sweepstakes draw from a fixed number of electronic sweepstakes draws associated with the at least one sweepstakes game for each one of the respective plurality of requests;   at least partially in response to receiving the plurality of requests, awarding, by the one or more computer processors, a bonus time period to each one of the plurality of players;   initiating, by the one or more computer processors, play of a second sweepstakes game at a particular point in time, wherein
 play of the second sweepstakes game comprises selecting at least one electronic sweepstakes draw from a fixed number of electronic sweepstakes draws associated with the second sweepstakes game, and 
 wherein the at least one sweepstakes draw may result in a non-zero prize; 
   determining, by the one or more computer processors, for each one of the plurality of players awarded the bonus time period, whether the bonus time period for the each one of the plurality of players is operative concurrent with the particular point in time; and   awarding, by the one or more computer processors, at least a portion of the non-zero prize that results from play of the second sweepstakes game to at least one of the each one of the plurality of players awarded the bonus time period that is operative concurrent with the particular point in time.   
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 14 , further comprising incrementing each awarded bonus time period by a fixed amount of time for each additional respective request from each one of the plurality of players to play the at least one sweepstakes game. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 14 , further comprising resetting the bonus time period to a fixed amount of time for each additional respective request from each one of the plurality of players to play the at least one sweepstakes game. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 14 , wherein the awarding at least a portion of the non-zero prize further comprises randomly selecting the at least one from the each one of the plurality of players awarded the bonus time period that is operative concurrent with the particular point in time. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 14 , wherein the first criterion further comprises receiving the request before a respective time counter for each of the plurality of players decrements to zero. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 18 , wherein the respective time counter for each of the plurality of players changes color as the respective time counter decrements to zero. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 14 , wherein the non-zero prize is a shared prize.