Gaming machine and method with numerical basis for prizes in reels

A gaming machine comprising:

• a cabinet in which is mounted one or more displays including a mechanical reel display with multiple reels;
• a controller operatively coupled to control the one or more displays;
• a credit input device in communication with the controller and adapted for accepting a physical item associated with a monetary value that establishes a player credit balance;
• a plurality of player-activated input devices in communication with the controller;
• wherein the controller is programmed to:
• in response to a wager activation by a player on one of the player input devices, generate a first random number and select a prize amount based on the first random number, generate a second random number and select an outcome sequence from a group of outcome sequences providing the prize amount, and cause the mechanical reel display to conduct a base game including spinning the reels and stopping to produce a respective randomly selected outcome including a plurality of symbols that are each one of a single digit number which takes on positive values and zero, a double digit number which takes on positive values and double zero, and a blank;
• identify a prize amount from the outcome by concatenating the single and double digit numbers and ignoring the blanks along a designated payline;
• and
• award a credit prize to the player of the identified prize amount.