Patent ID: 8439741

Claim:
A spinning reel slot machine, comprising: a plurality of mechanical reels that, in response to a wager, are rotated and stopped to randomly place symbols on said plurality of reels in visual association with a display area, one of said plurality of mechanical reels having a symbol location bearing a first symbol and a second symbol, in which said first symbol, but not said second symbol, is revealed at said symbol location in response to exposure of said symbol location to a first polarization state of light, and in which said second symbol, but not said first symbol, is revealed at said symbol location in response to exposure of said symbol location to a second polarization state of light; a light source located behind said one of said plurality of mechanical reels and in alignment with said display area; and a polarizing filter associated with said light source and capable of transmitting to said symbol location said first polarization state of light and said second polarization state of light.