Patent ID: 8585488

Claim:
A method of gaming for use with a gaming machine providing a whole reel symbol round, the gaming machine having a controller, the method comprising: selecting, via the controller, in each whole reel symbol game round, symbols for display to a player in a set of display positions, wherein subsets of the set of display positions correspond to at least one of a plurality of reels set side by side, and wherein the display positions of at least one of the side by side reels defines a reel area on the display; randomly selecting, via the controller, a whole reel symbol from a whole reel symbol set having a plurality of different whole reel symbols; displaying the selected whole reel symbol outside of the reel area; selecting at least one reel area; displaying the selected whole reel symbol in each one of the display positions of the selected reel area; selecting, via the controller, symbols for display to the player in each of the display positions of the other reels outside of the selected reel area from respective ones of a plurality of reel symbol sets, wherein each reel symbol set is comprised of a plurality of different symbols, and wherein each of whole reel symbol of the whole reel symbol set is the same as a reel symbol of the reel symbol set; and determining, via the controller, an outcome for the whole reel game round based on the symbols selected from each of the reel symbols sets and from the whole reel set.