Apparatus and method for awarding a prize

A method for determining the award of a plurality of prizes having respective prize values, the method including:

• storing data indicative of a current prize value;
• being responsive to input signals from a respective plurality of gaming terminals for providing an increment signal;
• providing a controller for defining the current prize value as a first of the prize values and being responsive to the increment signal for incrementing an accumulated value toward the current prize value;
• and
• being responsive to the current prize value and the accumulated value for determining if the current prize value is to be awarded and, if so, generating an award signal that actuates the controller to define the current prize value as a second of the prize values.

A method of awarding a plurality of prizes having respective prize values, comprising:

• (a) monitoring wagers from multiple terminals;
• (b) setting a current prize value to a first prize value;
• (c) incrementing an accumulated value in accordance with the wagers until the accumulated value is equal to or beyond a threshold;
• (d) identifying the terminal whose wager resulted in the accumulated value being equal to or beyond the threshold;
• (e) setting the current prize value to a second prize value;
• and
• (f) repeating steps (c) and (d).