Patent ID: 7780519

Claim:
A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming machine, comprising: receiving, by the gaming machine, a wager from a player, the gaming machine having a display, the display displaying symbols in an array having a fixed number of symbol positions; displaying, by the display, a first winning combination of symbols in the fixed number of symbol positions of the array, the first winning combination being associated with a first predetermined award; in response to a predetermined event, automatically upgrading the first winning combination by modifying each of the symbols of the first winning combination to a second winning combination of symbols without interaction by the player, the second winning combination being associated with a second predetermined award that is higher than the first predetermined award, the second winning combination being determined in the fixed number of symbol positions in the array and having a same number of symbols as the first winning combination; displaying, by the display, the second winning combination of symbols in the fixed number of symbol positions in the array; and providing, by the gaming machine, the player with the second predetermined award.