US 11,900,757 B2
Gaming machine, control method for machine, and program for gaming machine
Benjamin Merkel, Henderson, NV (US); and John Pariseau, Las Vegas, NV (US)
Assigned to Konami Gaming, Inc., Las Vegas, NV (US)
Filed by Konami Gaming, Inc., Las Vegas, NV (US)
Filed on Jun. 1, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/336,163.
Application 17/336,163 is a continuation of application No. 16/676,181, filed on Nov. 6, 2019, granted, now 11,043,064.
Application 16/676,181 is a continuation of application No. 15/479,112, filed on Apr. 4, 2017, granted, now 10,510,205, issued on Dec. 17, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0114859 A1, Apr. 14, 2022
Int. Cl. G07F 17/00 (2006.01); G07F 17/32 (2006.01); G07F 17/34 (2006.01)
CPC G07F 17/3213 (2013.01) [G07F 17/3227 (2013.01); G07F 17/34 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A gaming machine, comprising:
a cabinet;
a control panel mounted to the cabinet;
a display device mounted to the cabinet; and
a control unit operably coupled to the control panel and the display device, the control unit including a processor programmed to execute an algorithm to display an animated sequence of computer-generated images on the display device including the steps of:
displaying a game screen on the display device including a plurality of reels displayed in a grid including a plurality of cells arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns and a plurality of paylines associated with the plurality of cells; and
establishing a plurality of predefined subsets of cells, each of the plurality of predefined subsets of cells being associated with a different wager amount, the plurality of predefined subsets of the cells including a first subset of cells and a second subset of cells, wherein an associated number of cells in the second subset of cells is greater than an associated number of cells in the first subset of cells, and wherein a wager amount associated with the second subset of cells is greater than a wager amount associated with the first subset of cells;
receiving a player's selection of a subset of cells from the plurality of predefined subsets of cells via the control panel, highlighting the selected subset of cells on the game screen, and establishing a feature area including the selected subset of cells;
animating the plurality of reels to spin and stop to display a plurality of symbols in the grid; and
displaying a game feature upon detecting the occurrence of a predetermined symbol appearing in the feature area with the reels stopped.