Gaming systems, gaming devices and methods with volatility control games

Abstract

Gaming systems, gaming devices and methods that provide games that control volatility. In one embodiment, the gaming system disclosed herein enables a player to select values, or cells associated with values, that are displayed in a particular arrangement. The player selected values are distributed to other values or cells according to one or more predefined rules. In one embodiment, one or more of the player selectable values are progressive award values. At some point during the game, the gaming system randomly picks one of the remaining values that have not been selected and provides an award to the player based at least in part on the selected value.

The invention is claimed as follows: 
     
         1 . A gaming system comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory device which stores a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 maintain a plurality of progressive awards, each progressive award having a current value, 
 at a first point in time, cause a display device to display, for each of the plurality of progressive awards, the current value of said progressive award, and 
 responsive to a progressive award distribution event occurring in association with a first one of the plurality of progressive awards:
 distribute at least a portion of the current value of the first one of the plurality of progressive awards to at least another one of the plurality of progressive awards, and 
 at a second, subsequent point in time, cause the display device to display, for each of the plurality of progressive awards, the current value of said progressive award. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the progressive award distribution event occurs in association with the first one of the plurality of progressive awards independent of a determination to provide the first one of the plurality of progressive awards to a player. 
     
     
         3 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein when executed by the processor responsive to the progressive award distribution event occurring in association with the first one of the plurality of progressive awards, the plurality of instructions cause the processor to distribute the current value of the first one of the plurality of progressive awards to another one of the plurality of progressive awards. 
     
     
         4 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein when executed by the processor responsive to the progressive award distribution event occurring in association with the first one of the plurality of progressive awards, the plurality of instructions cause the processor to distribute different valued portions of the current value of the first one of the plurality of progressive awards to different ones of the plurality of progressive awards. 
     
     
         5 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the progressive award distribution event randomly occurs in association with the first one of the plurality of progressive awards. 
     
     
         6 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , which comprises an acceptor, wherein when executed by the processor, the plurality of instructions cause the processor to, responsive to a physical item being received via the acceptor, establish a credit balance based, at least in part, on a monetary value associated with the received physical item, and responsive to a cashout input being received, cause an initiation of any payout associated with the credit balance. 
     
     
         7 . A gaming system comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory device which stores a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 for each of a plurality of sections of a wheel, cause a display device to display a value associated with said section, and 
 responsive to a wheel triggering event occurring:
 (a) cause the wheel to spin and stop such that an indicator associated with the wheel indicates a randomly selected section, 
 (b) distribute at least a first portion of the displayed value of the randomly selected section to at least another one of the displayed values associated with at least another one of the sections of the wheel, and 
 (c) following the distribution, for each of the plurality of sections of the wheel, cause the display device to display an updated value associated with said section. 
 
   
     
     
         8 . The gaming system of  claim 7 , wherein when executed by the processor responsive to the wheel triggering event occurring, the plurality of instructions cause the processor to provide a second portion of the displayed value of the randomly selected section to a player. 
     
     
         9 . The gaming system of  claim 7 , wherein the first portion of the displayed value of the randomly selected section comprises the displayed value of the randomly selected section. 
     
     
         10 . The gaming system of  claim 7 , wherein when executed by the processor responsive to the wheel triggering event occurring, the plurality of instructions cause the processor to distribute different valued portions of the first portion of the displayed value of the randomly selected section to the displayed values of different sections of the wheel. 
     
     
         11 . The gaming system of  claim 7 , wherein when executed by the processor responsive to the wheel triggering event occurring, the plurality of instructions cause the processor to repeat (a) to (c) at least once. 
     
     
         12 . The gaming system of  claim 7 , which comprises an acceptor, wherein when executed by the processor, the plurality of instructions cause the processor to, responsive to a physical item being received via the acceptor, establish a credit balance based, at least in part, on a monetary value associated with the received physical item, and responsive to a cashout input being received, cause an initiation of any payout associated with the credit balance. 
     
     
         13 . A gaming system comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory device which stores a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 cause a display device to display a plurality of selections, each selection associated with a quantity of free spins, 
 responsive to a free spin distribution event occurring in association with a first selected one of the selections, distribute at least one free spin of the quantity of free spins associated with the first selected one of the selections to at least another one of the quantity of free spins associated with at least another one of the selections, and 
 responsive to a free spin triggering event occurring in association with a second selected one of the selections, for each of the quantity of free spins associated with the second selected one of the selections:
 randomly determine a game outcome, 
 cause the display device to display the randomly determined game outcome, 
 determine any award associated with the randomly determined game outcome, and 
 cause the display device to display any determined award associated with the randomly determined game outcome. 
 
   
     
     
         14 . The gaming system of  claim 13 , wherein when executed by the processor responsive to the free spin distribution event occurring in association with a first selected one of the selections, the plurality of instructions cause the processor to distribute each of the free spins of the quantity of free spins associated with the first selected one of the selections to another one of the quantity of free spins associated with another one of the selections. 
     
     
         15 . The gaming system of  claim 13 , wherein when executed by the processor responsive to the free spin distribution event occurring in association with a first selected one of the selections, the plurality of instructions cause the processor to distribute different quantities of free spins to different ones of the selections. 
     
     
         16 . The gaming system of  claim 13 , which comprises an acceptor, wherein when executed by the processor, the plurality of instructions cause the processor to, responsive to a physical item being received via the acceptor, establish a credit balance based, at least in part, on a monetary value associated with the received physical item, and responsive to a cashout input being received, cause an initiation of any payout associated with the credit balance.