The preferred method of awarding a jackpot includes the step 10 of initialising a variable representing the jackpot amount and the step 11 of initialising a variable representing a lump sum. At step 12 a signal including data indicative of gaming activity is received by 5 the controller 2, which calculates first and second increments in dependence upon said data at steps 13 and 14. The jackpot amount is incremented by the first increment at step 13 and, in response to a trigger, the jackpot amount is incremented by the lump sum at step 16. When an award of the jackpot is triggered at step 18, the CPU executes an allocation routine 19 to determine the EGM to which to award the jackpot. Initialise Jackpot Amount variable 10 Initialise Lump Sum variable 11 Receive data indicative of 12 gaming activity Calculate first 13 increment and add it to Jackpot Amount Calculate second 14 increment and add it to Lump Sum ump Sum Increment Yes nJcptemont Reset Lump Triggered e--Jcpo mut P Sum Variable by Lump Sum No Jackpot Award Triggered?__ Ye -19 20 2 Execute Award Commence Allocation - No Jackpot No New Routine Jackpot Fig. 2
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AWARDING A JACKPOT