Gaming device having an award level determination competition

A gaming system comprising:

• a plurality of input devices;
• at least one display device;
• and
• at least one processor, said at least one processor programmed to operate with said plurality of input devices and said at least one display device to:
• (a) begin a competition upon an occurrence of a competition triggering event, said competition including a plurality of ranked components;
• (b) display the competition which includes:
• (i) displaying a plurality of selections, each of the selections being randomly associated with one of the plurality of ranked components, and
• (ii) displaying the ranked components associated with the selections picked by each of a plurality of players after enabling the plurality of players to pick the displayed selections, wherein a timing of each player's pick does not affect the associated ranked component;
• and
• (c) cause one of a plurality of different award levels to be employed for determining an award for a subsequent game played by the player who picked the selection associated with the ranked component having a most favorable rank, said employed award level having an average expected award value which is greater than average expected award values of each of the other of the award levels.

A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising:

• (a) beginning a competition upon an occurrence of a competition triggering event, said competition including a plurality of ranked components;
• (b) displaying the competition which includes displaying each of a plurality of players randomly achieving one of the plurality of ranked components;
• and
• (c) causing one of a plurality of different award levels to be employed for determining an award in a subsequent game played by the player that achieved the ranked component having a most favorable rank, said employed award level having an average expected award value which is greater than average expected award values of each of the other of the award levels employed for determining awards in other subsequent games played by the players that did not achieve the ranked component having the most favorable rank.

A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising:

• (a) beginning a competition upon an occurrence of a competition triggering event, said competition including a plurality of ranked components;
• (b) displaying the competition which includes:
• (i) displaying a plurality of selections, each of the selections being randomly associated with one of the plurality of ranked components, and
• (ii) displaying the ranked components associated with the selections picked by each of a plurality of players after enabling the plurality of players to pick the displayed selections, wherein a timing of each player's pick does not affect the associated ranked component;
• and
• (c) causing one of a plurality of different award levels to be employed for determining an award for a subsequent game for the player who picked the selection associated with the ranked component having a most favorable rank, said employed award level having an average expected award value which is greater than average expected award values of each of the other of the award levels.