Patent ID: 8007357

Claim:
A gaming device comprising: at least one display device; at least one input device; at least one processor; and at least one memory device storing a plurality of instructions, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device and the at least one input device to: (A) operate a game upon a wager by a player, wherein the game includes: (a) a plurality of reels; and (b) a plurality of symbols on the reels, the plurality of symbols including a plurality of wild symbols, wherein a plurality of different reels each include at least one of the wild symbols; and (B) after an occurrence of a triggering event associated with a play of the game: (a) cause a generation of a first quantity of the symbols on a first quantity of the reels without an additional wager by the player, (b) provide the player any award associated with any winning combinations of the generated symbols on said first quantity of the reels from said generation, (c) repeat (B)(a) and (B)(b) until at least one of the wild symbols is generated on said first quantity of the reels, and (d) if at least one of the wild symbols is generated on said first quantity of the reels, (i) cause a subsequent event to occur on a second quantity of the reels, said first quantity of the reels being greater than said second quantity of the reels, wherein the result of said subsequent event is either a terminating result or a non-terminating result, both of which are based on the quantity of the wild symbols generated on the second quantity of the reels in said subsequent event, and (ii) if the non-terminating result occurs, repeat (B)(a) to (B)(d).