Patent ID: 8876586

Claim:
A method of operating a gaming device having a game display, a processor, and a player input device, the method comprising: receiving a wager to play a first poker game on the gaming device, the first poker game including a first game stage and a separate second game stage, where the first and second game stages are associated with a first multiplier and a second multiplier, respectively; displaying a first poker hand in the first game stage on the game display of the gaming device; displaying a second poker hand in the second game stage on the game display of the gaming device; evaluating the first and second poker hands to determine prizes associated with the first and second poker hands, using the processor; awarding any determined prizes from the first and second poker hands; determining, with the processor, if the first poker hand or second poker hand satisfies a predefined criterion; altering the second multiplier associated with the second game stage for use in a second poker game when the first poker hand of the first poker game satisfies the predefined criterion, using the processor; and altering the first multiplier associated with the first game stage for use in a second poker game when the second poker hand of the first poker game satisfies the predefined criterion, using the processor.