Gaming Method and Apparatus for Portioning a Play Area

A wagering gaming device comprising:

• a display device configured to display:
• a first grid of a plurality of symbol display positions;
• and
• a second grid of a plurality of boundary elements, the plurality of boundary elements positioned at least between some of the plurality of symbol display positions of the first grid;
• a wager input device configured to receive currency or currency based tickets, the currency or currency based tickets establishing a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity;
• a cashout device configured to receive an input to cause an initiation of a payout associated with the credit balance;
• a memory device configured to store the credit balance and a plurality of symbols;
• and
• game circuitry configured to:
• receive a wager signal to initiate a game of chance in response to placement of a wager, the wager decreasing the credit balance;
• mark one or more of the plurality of symbol display positions of a first grid by randomly selecting symbols to appear on the plurality of symbol display positions;
• initially mark one or more of the plurality of boundary elements of the second grid, the boundary elements being marked independently of the symbols displayed in the first grid;
• frame at least some of the symbol display positions in the grid using at least some of the initially-marked boundary elements of the second grid to define one or more framed symbol display position;
• while maintaining the symbols shown in the symbol display positions framed by the initially-marked boundary elements, re-mark the remaining symbol display positions of the grid that are not framed by the boundary elements;
• evaluate symbol combinations formed from the symbols displayed in the symbol positions of the grid for awards after re-marking the symbol display positions that were not framed by the initially-marked boundary elements;
• and
• detect the input to cause the initiation of the payout, via the cashout device.

A method of operating a wagering gaming device having a display device configured to display a grid of a plurality of symbol display positions, a wager input device configured to receive physical items associated with currency values, a memory device configured to store a credit balance and to store data related to a plurality of game reels including arrangements of symbols associated with each of the game reels, and game circuitry, the method comprising:

• receiving an input signal from the wager input device indicating receipt of a physical item associated with a currency value;
• increasing the credit balance stored in the memory based on the currency value associated with the received physical item;
• receiving a wager signal to initiate a game of chance in response to placement of a wager, the wager decreasing the credit balance;
• marking one or more of the symbol display positions of the grid by spinning a first plurality of the game reels and stopping the first plurality of game reels to display symbols in the symbol display positions;
• framing at least some of the symbol display positions in the grid with boundary elements;
• while maintaining the symbols shown in the symbol display positions framed by the boundary elements, re-marking the remaining symbol display positions of the grid that are not framed by the boundary elements;
• evaluating symbol combinations formed from the symbols displayed in the symbol positions of the grid for awards after re-marking the symbol display positions that were not framed by the boundary elements;
• and
• providing awards based on the evaluation of symbol combinations, where the provided awards increase the credit balance stored in the memory.