Wagering award amount determined by wager size and/or speed of play

A gaming system for playing a wagering game having a base game and a bonus game, the gaming system comprising:

• a wager input device for receiving a wager from a player, a portion of the wager contributing to one or more progressive awards of a bonus game;
• a display for displaying a base game of the wagering game in response to receiving the wager from the player, the progressive wagering game being played over the course of a game time period;
• and a controller coupled to the display and operative to cause the displaying of default values of the progressive awards on the display, increment the default values of the progressive awards in accordance with wagers received from the player and from other players, in response to a wager size and a speed of play associated with the player, enable a bonus eligibility time period within the progressive wagering game, the bonus eligibility time period being less than the game time period, assign an award multiplier when the bonus eligibility time is available, the award multiplier having a value that changes in accordance with the wager size and the speed of play trigger a bonus game in response to a bonus triggering event, if sufficient bonus eligibility time is available to the player when the bonus game is triggered, allow the player to participate in the bonus game, modify the default values of the progressive awards based on the award multiplier, replace the default values of the progressive awards with the modified values of the progressive awards when the bonus eligibility time is available, the modified values of the progressive awards being displayed on the display during the bonus eligibility time period, in response to the award multiplier becoming unavailable due to the bonus eligibility time period becoming not enabled, continue to display the default values of the progressive awards during a remainder of the game time period, and award one of the progressive awards in response to achieving a winning outcome during the bonus game.

A method of conducting a wagering game for a human player, the wagering game including a game sequence in which a player provides an input and a wagering game outcome is determined, the method comprising the acts of:

• using a user interface device to accept the player input, and transforming the player input to electronic data signals indicative of a wager to play the wagering game, at least a portion of the wager contributing to a progressive award of the wagering game, the wagering game being played over the course of a game time period;
• using one or more processors to interpret the wager from the data signals and to cause the recording of a digital interpretation of the wager in one or more storage devices;
• using at least one of the processors to initiate the game sequence of the wagering game on the gaming apparatus;
• in response to the wager, using at least one of the processors to cause at least one display device to display the game sequence of the wagering game;
• using at least one of the processors to determine a default value of the progressive award based on the portion of the wager received from the player and based on other portions received from other players;
• using at least one of the processors to cause the at least one display device to display the default value of the progressive award;
• in response to a wager size and a speed of play associated with the player, using at least one of the processors to enable a bonus eligibility time period during which an award modifier is available to the player, the bonus eligibility time period being less than the game time period;
• using at least one of the processors to determine a value for the award modifier based on the wager size and the speed of play;
• using at least one of the processors to change the default value of the progressive award to a modified value in accordance with the award modifier;
• in response to the award modifier being available to the player, using at least one of the processors to cause the at least one display device to display the modified value of the progressive award during the bonus eligibility time period;
• in response to the award modifier becoming unavailable due to the bonus eligibility time period becoming not enabled, using at least one of the processors to cause the at least one display device to display the default value of the progressive award during a remainder of the game time period:
• and using at least one of the processors to award the progressive award in response to achieving a winning outcome.

A gaming system for playing a progressive wagering game, comprising:

• a wager input device for receiving a wager from a player;
• a display for displaying a progressive wagering game in response to receiving the wager from the player, the progressive wagering game being played over the course of a game time period;
• and a controller coupled to the display and operative to cause the displaying of a default progressive award value on the display, in response to a wager size and a speed of play associated with the player, enable a bonus eligibility time period within the progressive wagering game, the bonus eligibility time period being less than the game time period, assign an award multiplier when the bonus eligibility time is available, the award multiplier having a value that changes in accordance with the wager size and the speed of play, trigger a bonus game in response to a bonus triggering event, if sufficient bonus eligibility time is available to the player when the bonus game is triggered, allow the player to participate in the bonus game, modify the default progressive award value based on the award multiplier, replace the default progressive award value with a modified progressive award value when the bonus eligibility time is available, the modified progressive award value being displayed on the display during the bonus eligibility time period, in response to the award multiplier becoming unavailable due to the bonus eligibility time period becoming not enabled, continue to display the default progressive award value during a remainder of the game time period, and in response to achieving a winning outcome, provide a progressive award having a current value, the current value being the modified progressive award value if the award multiplier is available, the current value being the default progressive award value if the award multiplier is unavailable.