Patent ID: 9558634
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: G07F

Claim:
1. A method of gaming in a gaming system having a credit input mechanism configured to accept physical item associated with a monetary value for establishing a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity, an output mechanism configured to cause a payout associated with the credit balance, a game controller, the method comprising: establishing a credit balance including receiving the physical item via said credit accepting mechanism; in response to having established the credit balance via the credit accepting mechanism, decreasing the credit balance, and selecting, via the controller, a plurality of symbols for display on a display of the gaming system at a plurality of display positions, each display position comprising a plurality of borders, each border being defined by an edge of the display position, at least one of the borders being a common border between two display positions; determining, via the controller, whether a first display position displays a designated symbol; determining, via the controller, in response to determining that the first display position displays a designated symbol, whether each of a plurality of second display positions surrounding the first display position and sharing common borders with the first display position also displays the designated symbol; in response to determining that both the first display position and at least one of the second display positions surrounding the first display position and sharing common borders with the first display position display the designated symbols, further determining, via the controller, whether each of a plurality of third display positions surrounding the first display position and the at least one of the second display positions and sharing common borders with at least one of the first display position and the at least one of the second display positions also displays the designated symbol; in response to determining that a group formed from the first display position, the second display positions, and the third display positions displays at least three designated symbols, increasing via the game controller the credit balance; and making a payout via the payout mechanism in accord with the credit balance.