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Embodiments of the present invention set forth systems, apparatuses and methods for combining symbols in gaming devices. Accordingly, a gaming device can be configured to display a plurality of game elements each including a game symbol on a game display in response to a game initiation signal. When

Embodiments of the present invention set forth systems, apparatuses and methods for combining symbols in gaming devices. Accordingly, a gaming device can be configured to display a plurality of game elements each including a game symbol on a game display in response to a game initiation signal. When one or more predefined game conditions are satisfied, the method further includes combining two or more of the game symbols in a single game element. In some instances, one or more of the symbols that left their respective game elements are replaced with additional game symbols. The resulting game grid may then be evaluated to determine prizes associated with winning symbol combinations, including using one or both of the symbols combined in the single game element in the winning symbol combinations.

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1. A poker gaming device comprising, a body structure having a player input device; a video display device housed in the body structure, the video display including a game portion having a grid of multiple card positions;a memory device enclosed in the body structure, the memory device storing execu

1. A poker gaming device comprising, a body structure having a player input device; a video display device housed in the body structure, the video display including a game portion having a grid of multiple card positions;a memory device enclosed in the body structure, the memory device storing executable instructions and a plurality of virtual cards each having a rank value and a suit type, and configured to store a credit amount;a wager input device housed in the body structure, the wager input device structured to receive physical items associated with a currency value; anda processor enclosed in the body structure, the processor arranged to execute the instructions stored in the memory to:receive a signal from the wager input device indicating receipt of a physical item associated with a currency value;increase the credit amount stored in the memory based on the currency value of the received physical item;receive a wager on a poker game of chance, an amount of the wager deducted from the credit amount stored in the memory;display a first number of the plurality of virtual cards in the card positions of the grid, the displayed first number of virtual cards forming a poker hand;determine whether two or more of the displayed virtual cards meet a combination criterion;combine the two or more determined cards when said cards meet the combination criterion, the cards being combined in a single card position in the grid, wherein the combination of two or more determined cards in the single card position is a multi-indicia card symbol showing each of the combined cards;replace cards combined to a different card position on the grid with replacement cards from the plurality of virtual cards, where each grid position includes either a single virtual card or a multi-indicia card; andidentify a plurality of resulting hands for the poker hand when one or more of the card positions of the grid are associated with a multiple-indicia card, each of the plurality of resulting hands including a different subset of a total of the cards by splitting indicia of the multiple-indicia card into individual cards and making combinations using the other cards in the card positions of the grid to generate the plurality of resulting hands;evaluate each of the generated plurality of first resulting hands to determine if it is associated with any awards; andincrease the credit amount stored in a memory by amounts of any awards determined from the evaluated plurality of first resulting hands. 2. The poker gaming device of claim 1, wherein determining whether two or more of the displayed virtual cards meet a combination criterion includes determining whether two or more of the displayed virtual cards are of the same rank value. 3. The poker gaming device of claim 1, wherein determining whether two or more of the displayed virtual cards meet a combination criterion includes determining whether two or more of the displayed virtual cards are of the same suit and have a sequential rank value. 4. The poker gaming device of claim 1, wherein the poker hand is a draw poker hand, and wherein the processor is further arranged to execute the instructions stored in the memory to: facilitate user identification of which of the displayed virtual cards to hold; andreplace virtual cards in the poker hand that are not held with draw cards from the plurality of virtual cards. 5. The poker gaming device of claim 4, wherein the processor executes the instructions to facilitate user identification of which of the displayed virtual cards to hold and replace virtual cards in the poker hand after the processor executes the instructions to determine whether two or more of the displayed virtual cards meet a combination criterion and combine the two or more determined cards. 6. The poker gaming device of claim 4, wherein the processor executes the instructions to facilitate user identification of which of the displayed virtual cards to hold and replace virtual cards in the poker hand before the processor executes the instructions to determine whether two or more of the displayed virtual cards meet a combination criterion and combine the two or more determined cards. 7. The poker gaming device of claim 4, wherein the processor executes the instructions to facilitate user identification of which of the displayed virtual cards to hold and replace virtual cards in the poker hand both before and after the processor executes the instructions to determine whether two or more of the displayed virtual cards meet a combination criterion and combine the two or more determined cards. 8. The poker gaming device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further arranged to execute the instructions stored in the memory to provide a payout for any of the plurality of resulting hands that comply with a payout rule. 9. The poker gaming device of claim 8, wherein the processor is further arranged to execute the instructions stored in the memory to display each enumerated resulting hand on the video display device. 10. The poker gaming device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further arranged to execute the instructions stored in the memory to provide a payout for a best poker hand associated with a largest award of the plurality of resulting hands when the best poker hand complies with a payout rule. 11. The poker gaming device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further arranged to execute the instructions stored in the memory to repeat the execution steps of determining whether two or more of the displayed virtual cards meet a combination criterion, combining the two or more determined cards, and replacing cards combined to a different card position on the grid until no two displayed virtual cards in the grid meet the combination criterion. 12. A method of operating a poker gaming device, the poker gaming device including a body structure having a player input device, a video display device including a game portion having a grid of multiple card positions, a memory device configured to store a credit amount, a wager input device structured to receive physical items associated with a currency value, and a processor, the method comprising:receiving a signal from the wager input device indicating receipt of a physical item associated with a currency value;increasing the credit amount stored in the memory based on the currency value of the received physical item;receiving a wager on a poker game of chance, an amount of the wager deducted from the credit amount stored in the memory;displaying a first number of a plurality of first virtual cards in first card positions of a game grid, the displayed first number of virtual cards forming a first poker hand;determining whether two or more of the first displayed virtual cards meet a combination criterion;combining the two or more determined cards from the first displayed virtual cards when said cards meet the combination criterion, the cards being combined in a single card position in the first card positions of the game grid, wherein the combination of two or more determined cards in the single card position is a multi-indicia card symbol showing each of the combined cards;replacing cards combined to a different card position in the first card positions of the game grid with replacement cards from the first plurality of virtual cards, where each of the first grid positions includes either a single virtual card or a multi-indicia card; andidentifying a plurality of first resulting hands for the first poker hand when one or more of the first card positions of the grid are associated with a multiple-indicia card, each of the plurality of first resulting hands including a different subset of a total of the cards in the first poker hand by splitting indicia of the multiple-indicia card into individual cards and making combinations using the other cards in the first card positions of the grid to generate the plurality of first resulting hands;evaluate each of the generated plurality of first resulting hands to determine if it is associated with any awards; andincrease the credit amount stored in a memory by amounts of any awards determined from the evaluated plurality of first resulting hands. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first hand of the poker game is a draw poker game, and wherein the method further comprises: facilitating user identification of which of the first plurality of cards in the first poker hand to hold;replacing the displayed virtual cards in the first poker hand that are not held with first draw poker cards from the first plurality of virtual cards. 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising displaying a second number of a second plurality of virtual cards in second card positions of a game grid, the displayed second number of virtual cards forming a second poker hand in response to the received game initiation signal. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein cards held in the first poker hand are automatically displayed and held in the second poker hand at second cards positions in the game grid corresponding to first card positions associated with the held cards in the first poker hand. 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising replacing the virtual cards in the second poker hand that are not automatically held with second draw poker cards from the second plurality of virtual cards. 17. A poker gaming device comprising: a video display device including a game portion having a grid of multiple card positions;a memory device configured to store a plurality of virtual cards each having a rank value and a suit type, and to store a credit amount;a wager input device structured to receive physical items associated with a currency value; anda processor operable to: receive a signal from the wager input device indicating receipt of a physical item associated with a currency value;increase the credit amount stored in the memory based on the currency value of the received physical item;receive a wager on a poker game of chance, an amount of the wager deducted from the credit amount stored in the memory;display a first number of the plurality of virtual cards in the card positions of the grid on the video display device, the displayed first number of virtual cards forming a poker hand;determine whether a plurality of the displayed virtual cards meet a combination criterion;combine the plurality of cards meeting the combination criterion when said plurality of cards meet the combination criterion, the plurality of cards being combined in a single card position in the grid, wherein the combination of two or more determined cards in the single card position is a multi-indicia card symbol showing each of the combined cards;replace cards combined to a different card position on the grid with replacement cards from the plurality of virtual cards, where each grid position includes either a single virtual card or a multi-indicia card;evaluate the poker hand to determine if it is associated with any awards; andincrease the credit amount stored in memory by amounts of any awards determined from the evaluated poker hand. 18. The poker gaming device of claim 17, wherein the processor is further operable to identify a plurality of resulting hands for the poker hand when one or more of the card positions of the grid are associated with a multiple-indicia card, each of the plurality of resulting hands including a different subset of a total of the cards by splitting indicia of the multiple-indicia card into individual cards and making combinations using the other cards in the card positions of the grid to generate the plurality of resulting hands. 19. The poker gaming device of claim 18, wherein evaluating the poker hand to determine if it is associated with any awards includes evaluating each of the plurality of identified resulting hands of the poker hand for awards. 20. The poker gaming device of claim 18, wherein evaluating the poker hand to determine if it is associated with any awards includes: determining an optimum poker hand from the plurality of identified resulting hands of the poker hand; andevaluating the optimum poker hand for awards.