Casino game having player control of award level

Abstract

In a casino game categories are displayed to a player upon the occurrence of an event in the play of the casino game such as a bonusing event. Each category corresponds to a decision-making game and may have its own award level. The player selects one of the categories so that the player controls which decision-making game is played. The decision-making game based upon the selected category is played by the player. The decision-making game can be a knowledge-based game with a query being displayed with possible answers or any other decision-making game. The decision-making game corresponding to the selected category has at least a first possible outcome and a second possible outcome. The player is awarded based on the actual outcome and the award level for the selected category. The first possible outcome provides the player with a higher award than the second possible outcome.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A method of operating a casino game comprising: 
 displaying in the casino game a plurality of categories to a player, each of the plurality of categories having an award level, the plurality of categories having a plurality of corresponding possible player category inputs;    receiving a category input of the plurality of possible category inputs from the player so that the player controls the selection of a category, the received category input corresponding to the selected category;    displaying in the casino game a query from a database corresponding to the category input, the displayed query having a plurality of possible player answer inputs; and    receiving at least one answer input of the plurality of possible answer inputs from the player;    awarding the player an award based on the correctness of the at least one answer input and the award level of the selected category.    
     
     
         2  The method of  claim 1  wherein the award level for each of the plurality of categories is the same.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the award level for each of the plurality of categories is different.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the award level is a multiplier of a wager made by the player to play the casino game.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the award level is emblematic of the award.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of categories correspond to different levels of difficulty with each different level having an award based on the difficulty of the category.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of categories correspond to different areas of subject matter with each different area having an award based on the subject matter of the category.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of categories have a unique subject matter and difficulty level.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein displaying first displays the subject matter, followed by a second display of the difficulty level; 
 wherein receiving a category input receives a first player input for the subject matter in response to the first display and receives a second player input for the difficulty level in response to the second display.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein displaying first displays the difficulty level, followed by a second display of the subject matter; 
 wherein receiving a category input receives a first player input for the difficulty level in response to the first display and receives a second player input for the subject matter in response to the second display.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the casino game is interconnected into a wide area progressive system.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the casino game is interconnected to the Internet.  
     
     
         13 . A method of operating a knowledge-based casino bonus game during play of an underlying casino game of chance by a player, the method comprising: 
 entering the knowledge-based casino bonus from the underlying game of chance;    displaying a plurality of categories to the player, each of the plurality of categories having an award level, at least one of the award levels higher in value than the remaining award levels;    receiving a category input selecting one category of the plurality of possible category inputs from the player so that the player controls the award level by selecting a category;    displaying a query to the player in a display corresponding to the selected category, the displayed query having a plurality of possible player answer inputs;    receiving at least one answer input of the plurality of possible answer inputs in the displayed query from the player;    awarding the player based on the correctness of the at least one answer input and the award level of the selected category.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the award level is a multiplier of a wager made by the player to play the underlying game of chance.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of categories correspond to different levels of difficulty with each different level having an award based on the difficulty of the category, the greater the difficulty the higher the award.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the plurality of categories correspond to different areas of subject matter with each different area having an award based on the subject matter of the category.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the plurality of categories have a unique subject matter and difficulty level.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein displaying first displays the subject matter, followed by a second display of the difficulty level; 
 wherein receiving a category input receives a first player input for the subject matter in response to the first display and receives a second player input for the difficulty level in response to the second display.    
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein displaying first displays the difficulty level, followed by a second display of the subject matter; 
 wherein receiving a category input receives a first player input for the difficulty level in response to the first display and receives a second player input for the subject matter in response to the second display.    
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the underlying game of chance is interconnected into a wide area progressive system.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 13  wherein underlying game of chance is interconnected to the Internet.  
     
     
         22 . A method of playing a casino game comprising: 
 receiving a wager from a player to play the casino game,    displaying in the casino game a plurality of categories to the player upon the occurrence of an event in the play of the casino game, each of the plurality of categories having an award level;    receiving a category input of the plurality of possible category inputs from the player, the received category input corresponding to a category selected by the player so that the player controls the award level;    playing a decision-making game based upon the category input, said decision-making game having at least a first possible outcome and a second possible outcome;    awarding the player based on the actual outcome of the decision-making game and the award level corresponding to the selected category, wherein if the actual outcome is said first possible outcome the player receives a higher award than if the actual outcome is said second possible outcome.    
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the plurality of categories correspond to different levels of difficulty with each different level having an award based on the difficulty of the category, the greater the difficulty the higher the award.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23  wherein displaying visually displays to the player messages as to the ease and/or hardness associated with each level of difficulty.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the plurality of categories correspond to different areas of subject matter with each different area having an award based on the subject matter of the category.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the event is a bonusing event.