Electronic amusement device and method for enhanced slot machine play

A method for directing the operation of a slot machine, the method comprising the steps of:

• identifying a plurality of tracked symbols;
• associating a predetermined expiration condition with each occurrence of each tracked symbol after which each occurrence is expired;
• generating a plurality of running counts, each running count corresponding to a tracked symbol;
• and
• identifying a bonus payout based on at least one running count.

A method comprising:

• identifying a plurality of tracked symbols, each having associated therewith an expiration condition after which the tracked symbol is expired;
• generating a running count for each tracked symbol, including
• adding to the running count for a new occurrences of the tracked symbol and
• subtracting from the running count for expired occurrences of the tracked symbol, thereby determining an ongoing count of active occurrences of each tracked symbol;
• identifying a bonus value;
• and
• generating a bonus payout when at least one of the running counts exceeds the bonus value.