Method of awarding an auxiliary game prize along with a poker game

A gaming apparatus including an auxiliary component, said apparatus comprising:

• a principal game controller generating a signal representing principal game outcomes in a principal game;
• a class determination means for interpreting a principal game outcome and generating a class signal, said class signal corresponding to either a credit event or a no-credit event;
• a monitoring means for keeping track of credit events over a predetermined number of past events;
• a payoff means for awarding a prize when a predetermined number of credits are monitored within said predetermined number of past events;
• and
• a display.

A method of processing principal game outcomes in order to determine a prize in an auxiliary game played along with a principal game, the method comprising the steps of:

• establishing a first class of outcomes in said principal game associated with a no-credit event in said auxiliary game;
• establishing a second class of outcomes in said principal game associated with a credit event in said auxiliary game;
• establishing a third class of outcomes in said principal game associated with a non-event hold;
• monitoring credit events and no-credit events in said auxiliary game with said no-credit events erasing all of current credit events monitored;
• and
• signaling that a prize in said auxiliary game is to be awarded when a predetermined number of credits are monitored.

A gaming apparatus including an auxiliary component, said apparatus comprising:

• a principal game controller generating a signal representing principal game outcomes in a principal game;
• a class determination means for interpreting a principal game outcome and generating a class signal, said class signal corresponding to a credit event, a no-credit event, or a non-event hold;
• a monitoring means for keeping track of credit events while the occurrence of no-credit events resetting the monitoring means;
• a payoff means for awarding a prize when a predetermined number of credits are monitored;
• and
• a display.

A method of processing principal game outcomes in order to determine a prize in an auxiliary game played along with a principal game, the method comprising the steps of:

• establishing a first class of outcomes in said principal game associated with no-credit events in said auxiliary game;
• establishing a second class of outcomes in said principal game associated with credit events in said auxiliary game;
• establishing a third class of outcomes in said principal game associated with non-event holds;
• monitoring credit events and no-credit events in said auxiliary game over a predetermined number of past events in said auxiliary game with non-event holds increasing the number of principal game outcomes required for an event to stop being monitored;
• and
• signaling that a prize in said auxiliary game is to be awarded when a predetermined number of credits is present in said predetermined number of past events in said auxiliary game.

A gaming apparatus including an auxiliary component, the apparatus comprising:

• a principal game controller generating a signal representing principal game outcomes in a principal game;
• a class determination means for interpreting a principal game outcome and generating a class signal, said class signal corresponding to either a credit event, a non-credit event, or a non-event hold;
• a monitoring means for keeping track of credit events and no-credit events over a predetermined number of past events;
• a payoff means for awarding a prize when a predetermined number of credits are monitored within said predetermined number of past events;
• and
• a display.