Patent ID: 8147308

Claim:
A method for conducting a wagering game for a player in accordance with the rules of a base game defining a winning hand, comprising: defining, by at least one computing device, a finite set of game indicia; conducting, by the at least one computing device, a game hand for said player comprising: (a) receiving a wager from said player; (b) dealing game indicia to said player from said finite set cumulatively excluding all game indicia dealt in previous game hands, if any; (c) conducting said game hand for said player to completion according to said base game and resolving said wager based at least in part on whether said game hand forms a winning hand; (d) collecting all dealt game indicia from said player and excluding collected game indicia accumulated with all game indicia dealt in previous game hands, if any, from play in a subsequent game hand; and (e) displaying at least one of: the inventory of said game indicia from said finite set cumulatively excluding all game indicia dealt in previous game hands or winning hands eliminated as a result of said excluded game indicia; conducting, by the at least one computing device, at least one additional sequential game hand of steps (a)-(e) using said finite set cumulatively excluding dealt game indicia until an automatic restoration event, in which using said indicia until the automatic restoration event includes: saving a state of the finite set when a first gaming session played by said player ends; and restoring the saved state when a second gaming session played by said player starts, in which the saved state includes information defining the finite set cumulatively excluding dealt game indicia.