Patent ID: 8439743

Claim:
A gaming machine, comprising: indicia of a plurality of spinning reels in a first set of reels, wherein a determination is made as to whether an outcome of the indicia of spinning reels in the first set of reels is a winning outcome; indicia of a plurality of spinning reels in a second set of reels, wherein a determination is made as to whether an outcome of the indicia of spinning reels in the second set of reels is a winning outcome; and award-multiplier indicia of a first shared spinning base game award-multiplier reel positioned between the first and second set of reels, wherein the first set of reels, second set of reels, and the base game award-multiplier reel form a contiguous set of reels having a common axis of rotation, and wherein the base game award-multiplier indicia modifies the winning outcome on the first set of reels, modifies the winning outcome on the second set of reels, includes a secondary game trigger symbol, or combinations thereof.