There is provided a gaming system, gaming machine, and method that utilize an electronic display device configured to display a plurality of symbol arrays associated with respective sets of symbol-bearing reels. The arrays may be locked or unlocked. In response to a reel spin that generates a stack of value-bearing symbols in an unlocked array, a locked array is unlocked and the stack is held in its array for a number of subsequent reel spins, Payouts are provided for winning combinations of standard symbols and value-bearing symbols in the unlocked arrays.