I personally like the non-forced feel of how it works now, though I agree luck is a factor. If it were "official," gaming will start instantly and the value of the meme drops (as with most things). People start fights like "I'm tired of seeing ____ in the Show HN section"; it takes the natural flexibility out of the whole thing. Once you introduce incentives for gaming (the 1.0 probability that many people, including people with money, will see your link) and create a sectioned-off social space, it becomes a whole different social dynamic.

Maybe just have a link at the top bar/somewhere else to one of the websites other commentors have mentioned that feature all ShowHN projects.