Patent ID: 8475259

Claim:
A method for carrying out a secondary game by a gaming device in conjunction with a main game, the main game comprising displaying a plurality of virtual reels side-by-side having symbols, where the reels, after being rotated and randomly stopped, display an array of symbols on a display screen, certain combinations of symbols along one or more activated paylines providing an award for a player, the plurality of reels comprising a leftmost reel, a rightmost reel, and one or more reels in-between, the secondary game method comprising: initiating the secondary game only after the player has made an additional wager to play the secondary game independent of a wager for playing the main game; adding one or more special symbols to reel positions only on the leftmost reel and the rightmost reel, but not the reels in-between, the added one or more special symbols not affecting a significance of symbols in the main game located at the same reel positions as the one or more special symbols; rotating all the reels containing the symbols used in the main game and the one or more special symbols such that the main game and the secondary game are played simultaneously; randomly stopping all the reels; granting an award to the player for winning symbol combinations obtained in the main game; determining that the player has won the secondary game, whose outcome is determined solely by the final stop positions of the rightmost reel and the leftmost reel, wherein winning the secondary game is by at least one of the following events occurring: the special symbol on the leftmost reel stopping at a first position previously identified by a first indicator visible to the player at a start of the secondary game or the special symbol on the rightmost reel stopping at a second-position previously identified by a second indicator visible to the player at the start of the secondary game irrespective of the activated paylines in the main game, such that an outcome of the secondary game is not affected by the wager made to play the main game and an outcome of the main game is not affected by the wager to play the secondary game; and granting a reward for the player winning the secondary game.