Patent ID: 8016289

Claim:
A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising: (a) causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in at least one memory device to operate with at least one display device to display a plurality of reels associated with a game, each of said reels having a plurality of symbols, each of said symbols associated with one of a plurality of different values; (b) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored in the at least one memory device to operate with at least one input device to receive a wager from a player for a play of the game; (c) after receiving the wager from the player, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored in the at least one memory device to cause an activation of the reels; (d) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored in the at least one memory device to operate with the at least one display device to display a plurality of the symbols in a plurality of symbol positions associated with said reels; (e) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored in the at least one memory device to determine a sum of the values associated with each symbol displayed at each of a plurality of designated symbol positions; (f) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored in the at least one memory device to determine a house total; (q) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored in the at least one memory device to compare the sum of the values to the determined house total and to determine an outcome for the play of the game based on said comparison; (h) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored in the at least one memory device to determine an award to be provided to the player based on the determined outcome; and (i) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored in the at least one memory device to cause the determined award to be provided to the player.