The present invention includes a variety of methods to issue awards based upon the order of appearance of symbols in the symbol matrix. An "In-A-Row" embodiment of the present invention displays symbols in random positions of the symbol matrix and issues awards for three or more same symbols appearing in sequential order. For example, the first symbol displayed is an "A," the second symbol is a "B," and the third, fourth, fifth and sixth symbols are "C"s. The sequential appearance of four "C" symbols results in an In-A-Row award.