US Patent 8246439 Tournament qualification and characteristics in a gaming system

A gaming system is disclosed that provides game.pjay in a tournament in exchange for monetary input per game played. The gaming system includes: a game server, a plurality of game units, and a tournament administration controller. Each game unit including one or more display screens, a monetary input device, a player input device, and a processor that is implemented as part of a control system and connected to the game server via a casino gaming network. Each game unit is a game of chance or other game that does not rely primarily on the skill of the player. The casino-based game units enable the play of linked wheel games. The tournament administration controller enables an operator to designate tournament characteristics.