Improved presentation of multi-level mystery bonus awards

Abstract

In one aspect, a system displays a winning one of multiple mystery bonus awards before identifying a winner of the winning award from among a plurality of players of base games. In another aspect, the system displays a winning one of multiple mystery bonus awards after identifying a winner of the winning award from among a plurality of players of base games.

1 . A method of conducting a game of chance comprising:
 identifying at least two of a plurality of player awards;   selecting one of the identified player awards;   identifying one of a plurality of players to receive the selected player award; and   identifying the selected player award.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying one of a plurality of players to receive the selected player award occurs before identifying the selected player award. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying the selected player award occurs before identifying one of a plurality of players to receive the selected player award. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying the selected player award occurs substantially simultaneously with identifying one of a plurality of players to receive the selected player award. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the player awards comprise bonus awards and wherein the method further comprises identifying at least one award resulting from a base game pay table. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the player awards comprise progressive awards. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the progressive awards accumulate in separate pools from which an award is made. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein at least one of the player awards comprises a mystery award. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying at least two of a plurality of player awards comprises displaying the identified awards on a rotatable wheel. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein identifying the selected player award comprises stopping relative movement of a pointer and the wheel. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying the selected player award comprises controlling a light adjacent the selected player award. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein at least one of the identified awards comprises a mystery award. 
     
     
         13 . A method of conducting a game of chance comprising:
 displaying at least two of a plurality of mystery bonus awards;   identifying one of a plurality of players of a base game to receive one of the mystery bonus awards; and   thereafter identifying which of the mystery bonus awards the player will receive.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the method further comprises providing the identified mystery bonus award to the player. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the method further comprises providing at least one award resulting from a base game pay table. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the mystery bonus awards comprise progressive awards. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the progressive awards accumulate in separate pools from which an award is made. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13  wherein displaying at least two of a plurality of mystery bonus awards comprises displaying awards on a rotatable wheel. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein identifying which of the mystery bonus awards the player will receive comprises stopping relative movement of a pointer and the wheel. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 13  wherein identifying which of the mystery bonus awards the player will receive comprises controlling a light adjacent a display of the identified mystery bonus award. 
     
     
         21 . A method of conducting a game of chance comprising:
 displaying at least two of a plurality of mystery bonus awards;   identifying which of the mystery bonus awards one of a plurality of players of a base game will receive; and   thereafter identifying the player to receive the identified mystery bonus award.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the method further comprises providing the identified mystery bonus award to the identified player. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the method further comprises providing at least one award resulting from a base game pay table. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the mystery bonus awards comprise progressive awards. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the progressive awards accumulate in separate pools from which an award is made. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21  wherein displaying at least two of a plurality of mystery bonus awards comprises displaying awards on a rotatable wheel. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  wherein identifying which of the mystery bonus awards one of a plurality of players of a base game will receive comprises stopping relative movement of a pointer and the wheel. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21  wherein identifying which of the mystery bonus awards one of a plurality of players of a base game will receive comprises controlling a light adjacent a display of the mystery bonus award. 
     
     
         29 . A gaming system comprising:
 an award mechanism configured to award a winning one of at least two awards;   a mechanism configured to identify one of at least two displayed awards as a winning award; and   an indicator configured to indicate a winner of the winning award at a time different from when the winning award is identified.   
     
     
         30 . The gaming system of  claim 29  wherein the awards comprise bonus awards and wherein the system further comprises at least one base game. 
     
     
         31 . The gaming system of  claim 29  wherein at least one of the awards comprises a mystery award. 
     
     
         32 . The gaming system of  claim 29  wherein the mechanism configured to identify one of at least two displayed awards as a winning award comprises a rotatable wheel having at least two segments that correspond to the awards. 
     
     
         33 . The gaming system of  claim 32  wherein the mechanism configured to identify one of at least two displayed awards as a winning award further comprises a pointer that is movable relative to the wheel. 
     
     
         34 . The gaming system of  claim 29  wherein the indicator configured to indicate a winner of the winning award comprises a display. 
     
     
         35 . The gaming system of  claim 29  wherein the time different from when the winning award is identified occurs before the winning award is identified. 
     
     
         36 . The gaming system of  claim 29  wherein the time different from when the winning award is identified occurs after the winning award is identified.