Patent ID: 8147317

Claim:
A method of providing a wagering game on a gaming machine, the wagering game including a plurality of symbols that are displayed on a display to represent at least one outcome of the game, the plurality of symbols including a plurality of symbol classes, wherein a winning combination in the wagering game is represented as an occurrence of a combination of a plurality of symbols in the same class, the wagering game including a plurality of different winning combinations within two or more of the symbol classes, the method including: determining which one of a plurality of available wager options has been placed in a game play of the wagering game; forming at least one outcome from the plurality of symbols by displaying a symbol in each of a plurality of symbol display positions; and awarding an award according to a pay table of the gaming machine if a winning combination occurs; wherein the method further includes, for at least one wager option, defining at least one, but less than all of the symbols in at least two different symbol classes as inactive for forming a winning combination.