Patent ID: 7789753

Claim:
A method of operating an electronic gaming device via a processor, comprising: the processor configured to display a game using a symbol matrix formed by a plurality of rows intersecting with a plurality of columns, wherein said plurality of rows and columns include a plurality of symbols and a plurality of winning combinations associated with the symbols; the processor configured to randomly rearrange the plurality of symbols such that any number of same or different symbols may be generated for display in the symbol matrix without displaying said symbols; after rearranging the plurality of symbols, the processor is configured to display said rearranged symbols, in a non-award stage of the slot machine game, by individual or group placement of the rearranged symbols into the symbol matrix such that all of the rearranged symbols are not simultaneously displayed in the symbol matrix, wherein said display of the rearranged symbols is repeated by said processor until the symbol matrix is entirely filled; and after filling the symbol matrix with the rearranged symbols, the processor is configured to provide a first set of one or more award enhancers to a player based upon a placement order of the rearranged symbols including a predetermined winning placement order, wherein the placement order is an order in which the rearranged symbols were placed into the symbols matrix, and wherein the first set of award enhancers is not based upon the order in which the rearranged symbols are displayed in the symbol matrix once the symbol matrix is entirely filed; wherein said award enhancers provided by the processor are award enhancers that are applied to any winning combination associated with a displayed order of the final arrangement of the rearranged symbols in the symbol matrix.