Method of operating a gaming machine with a secondary lottery

A method of playing games of chance in a multi-player environment comprising:

• conducting at least one individual game of chance having at least one round, said game of chance producing an outcome;
• determining if said outcome of said game meets one of a predetermined set of results;
• ending said game if said outcome of said game does not meet said predetermined set of results;
• issuing to said player at least one lottery entry if said outcome of said game meets any of said predetermined set of results, said lottery entry including an identifier;
• and
• conducting a lottery selection upon a preset schedule, said lottery selection comprising:
• providing a lottery award amount;
• defining a pool of potential lottery entry identifiers for said lottery selection, independent of whether said potential lottery entry identifiers match identifiers on lottery entries that have actually been issued;
• selecting an identifier from said pool of potential lottery entry identifiers according to a predetermined random selection method;
• if said selected identifier matches an identifier on a lottery entry that has been issued, awarding at least a portion of said lottery award to the player holding a lottery entry with an identifier matching said selected identifier;
• and
• if said selected identifier does not match an identifier on a lottery entry that has been issued, retaining said lottery award.