Gaming method and apparatus for portioning a play area

Abstract

A method and apparatus for use in gaming activities such as slot machine. A play area comprising a plurality of elements is presented. A number of the elements are framing elements. The framing elements define a subportion. Payouts are issued for elements and element combinations within the subportion. The payouts may be administered according to a pay table. The framing elements can define a subportion of the play area by forming a subportion boundary.

1 . A method of facilitating a game, comprising:
 marking a plurality of elements of a grid, at least two of the elements being marked as framing elements;   defining one or more subportions of the grid using the framing elements; and   identifying winning combinations of marked elements located within the one or more subportions.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each subportion of the one or more subportions is defined as a rectangle by a respective set of two framing elements of the at least two framing elements, each set of two framing elements occupying opposite corners within the rectangular subportion that each respective set of two framing elements defines. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each subportion of the one or more subportions is defined as a rectangle by a respective set of two framing elements of the at least two framing element, each set of two framing elements adjacent to and opposing opposite corners of the rectangular subportion that each respective set defines, each set of two framing elements outside of the subportion that is defined by each respective set. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each respective element marked as a framing element is marked to indicate a corner of the element and each subportion of the one or more subportions is defined as a rectangle by a respective set of two framing elements of the at least two framing elements, each indicated corner of each set of two framing elements adjacent to opposite corners of the rectangle defined by each respective set of two framing elements. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein multiple types of framing element markings are used to mark the grid elements and each subportion is defined by two grid elements each marked as a common type of framing element. 
   
   
       5 . (canceled) 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising identifying winning combinations of marked elements located outside of the one or more subportions, wherein the marked elements located inside of the one or more subportions are identified according to different rules as compared to the winning combinations of the elements outside of the one or more subportions. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein marking the plurality of elements of the grid comprises randomly selecting at least one marking type for each grid element from a plurality of marking types, the plurality of marking types including a framing marking type signifying marked elements as framing elements. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one of marking and remarking elements located in the one or more subportions and identifying winning combinations of marked elements located within the one or more subportions 
   
   
       9 . A gaming apparatus hosting a gaming activity, the gaming apparatus comprising:
 a display device configured to present a grid having a plurality of elements;   a random number generator configured to randomly select a marking for presentation for each of a plurality of elements of the grid from a plurality of marking types, the plurality of marking types including a framing marking type; and   a processor configured to identify one or more subportions of the grid and combinations of element markings within the one or more subportions, wherein each subportion is defined by at least two elements each marked with the framing marking type marking.   
   
   
       10 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein each subportion of the one or more subportions is defined as a rectangle by a respective set of two elements marked with the framing marking type marking, each set of two subportion defining elements occupying opposite corners within the rectangular subportion that each respective set of two subportion defining elements defines. 
   
   
       11 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein each subportion of the one or more subportions is defined as a rectangle by a respective set of two elements marked with the framing marking type marking, each set of two subportion defining elements adjacent to and opposite opposing corners of the rectangular subportion that each respective set defines, each set of subportion defining elements outside of the subportion that the set defines. 
   
   
       12 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the random number generator is further configured to randomly select a corner of each respective element selected by the random number generator for marking with the framing marking type, each subportion of the one or more subportions is defined as a rectangle by a respective set of two elements marked with framing marking type markings, and each selected corner of each set of two subportion defining elements are adjacent to opposite corners of the rectangle defined by the set of two subportion defining elements marked with the framing marking type markings. 
   
   
       13 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of marking types comprises multiple different types of framing marking types and each of the one or more subportions is defined by two elements each marked with a common type of the multiple different types of framing marking types. 
   
   
       14 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of marking types comprises multiple different types of framing marking types, the one or more subportions comprises multiple different types of subportions defined by common types of markings of the multiple different types of framing marking types, and each different type of subportion is associated with different payout rules. 
   
   
       15 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to identifying winning combinations of marked elements located outside of the one or more subportions, the elements located inside of the one or more subportions being identified according to different rules as compared to the winning combinations of the elements located outside of the one or more subportions. 
   
   
       16 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the random number generator is further configured to select a symbol type marking from the plurality of marking types for elements located within the identified one or more subportions. 
   
   
       17 . A method of facilitating a game, comprising:
 marking a plurality of elements of a display grid, each of the plurality of elements marked with a framing line marking;   defining one or more subportions within the display grid, each of the one or more subportions being defined by a respective continuous series of adjacent elements marked with framing line markings such that the framing line markings form a continuous circuit of aligned framing line markings around the subportion; and   identifying winning combinations of marked elements located within each of the one or more subportions.   
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein marking the plurality of elements of the display grid further comprises marking each of the plurality of elements with a symbol randomly selected from a plurality of symbol types and identifying winning combinations of marked elements comprises identifying combinations of corresponding symbols within the one or more subportions. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising identifying winning combinations of marked elements located outside of the one or more subportions, wherein identification of winning combinations of marked elements within the one or more subportions is conducted according to different rules than identification of winning combination of marked elements located outside of the one or more subportions. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein winning combinations of elements within the one or more subportions are identified according to scatter pay rules while winning combinations of elements outside of the one or more subportions are identified according to rules requiring adjacency of elements within winning combinations. 
   
   
       21 . A gaming apparatus hosting a gaming activity, the gaming apparatus comprising:
 a display device configured to present a grid having a plurality of elements;   a random number generator configured to randomly select a framing line marking for presentation for each of a plurality of elements of the grid from a plurality of different framing line marking configurations; and   a processor configured to identify one or more subportions of the grid and winning combinations of element markings within the one or more subportions, wherein each subportion is defined by framing line markings of the plurality of elements forming a continuous circuit of aligned framing line markings around the subportion.   
   
   
       22 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the random number generator is further configured to randomly select a symbol for each of the plurality of elements and the processor is configured to identify winning combinations of element marking symbols within the one or more subportions. 
   
   
       23 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to identify winning combinations of element markings located outside of the one or more subportions and identification of winning combinations of element markings within the one or more subportions is conducted according to different rules than identification of winning combination of element markings located outside of the one or more subportions. 
   
   
       24 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 23 , wherein winning combinations of element markings located within the one or more subportions are identified according to scatter pay rules and winning combinations of element markings located outside of the one or more subportions are identified according to rules requiring adjacency of elements within winning combinations. 
   
   
       25 . A method of facilitating participation in a game, comprising:
 marking a plurality of elements of a display grid, including marking one or more of the plurality of elements with a directional framing marking;   defining one or more subportions within the display grid, each of the one or more subportions being defined by one or more elements of the plurality of elements that are marked with directional framing markings, each subportion extending from the respective element marked with the directional framing markings in a direction indicated by the directional framing marking; and   identifying winning combinations of marked elements located within each of the one or more subportions.   
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein each of the one or more subportions extends from the respective element marked with the directional framing marking defining the subportion to a boundary of the display grid. 
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein marking the plurality of elements of the display grid further comprises marking at least some of the plurality of elements with a randomly selected symbol and identifying winning combinations of marked elements located within each of the one or more subportions further comprises identifying winning combinations of elements marked with corresponding symbols. 
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising identifying winning combinations of marked elements located outside of the one or more subportions, wherein identification of winning combinations of marked elements within the one or more subportions is conducted according to different rules than identification of winning combination of marked elements located outside of the one or more subportions. 
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein winning combinations of elements within the one or more subportions are identified according to scatter pay rules while winning combinations of elements outside of the one or more subportions are identified according to rules requiring adjacency of elements within winning combinations. 
   
   
       30 . A gaming apparatus hosting a gaming activity, the gaming apparatus comprising:
 a display device configured to present a grid having a plurality of elements;   a random number generator configured to randomly select a marking for presentation for each of a plurality of elements of the grid from a plurality of different marking types, the plurality of different marking types including directional framing marking types; and   a processor configured to identify one or more subportions of the grid and winning combinations of element markings within the one or more subportions, wherein each subportion is defined as extending from a respective element marked with the directional framing marking in a direction indicated by the directional framing marking.   
   
   
       31 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 30 , wherein each subportion extends from the respective element marked with the directional framing marking defining the subportion to a boundary of the grid. 
   
   
       32 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 30 , wherein the plurality of different marking types includes a plurality of symbol marking types and the processor is configured to identify winning combinations of corresponding symbol types selected for the elements within the one or more subportions. 
   
   
       33 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 30 , wherein the processor is further configured to identify winning combinations of element markings located outside of the one or more subportions and identification of winning combinations of element markings located within the one or more subportions is conducted according to different rules than identification of winning combinations of element markings located outside of the one or more subportions. 
   
   
       34 . The gaming apparatus of  claim 33 , wherein identification of winning combinations of element markings located within the one or more subportions is conducted according to scatter pay rules and identification of winning combinations of element markings located outside of the one or more subportions is conducted according to rules requiring adjacency of elements within winning combinations. 
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein multiple types of framing element markings are used to mark the grid elements and multiple types of subportions are defined by respective sets of two grid elements marked with common types of framing element markings.