Progressive Jackpots Explained

What are progressive jackpots?

Progressive jackpots are the gold mines of casino sites. There is no doubt about it. However, we are sure that many of you question the differences between these progressive jackpot games, as they come with so many different variations to play with.

Things such as Classical jackpots and jackpot slots, we are sure you question yourself being new to the casino world (possibly), what is the actual difference between the two? Well, the actual answer to this question is, they are very much similar/or the same in principle.

All progressive jackpots share the same concept in how they are formed, based on slow incremental increase to the amount over time, until a player manages to trigger all the amount for themselves.

All progressive jackpots operate in the same way, with the only difference being that the distribution of the jackpot (in terms of casino location) and the actual amount potential you can actually win. So obviously, the more you know, the better it will be for your future in playing progressive jackpots, right? So, we decided to do just that! In this guide, everything about progressive jackpots will be unveiled, so you can understand the essentials before you pounce into something serious!

An Introduction: How do Progessive Jackpots work?

So, down to the important details of a progressive jackpot. Progressive jackpots in a nutshell are slot games that you can win large life changing amounts of money from! The reason that these are so loved and hyped, is because they can get larger and larger by the day, if they are unclaimed and not triggered. The biggest win in the history of progressive jackpots, occured in the July of this year, with one player managing to win over £14million playing Mega Moolah at Lucky Casino in Sweden.

Jackpots such as these operate by getting small percentages of players' wagers that enter the game, and contributing it to the overall cash amount. Of course, being that it is only a small amount, you will find that it will take time and patience for it to even reach the amount of millions or hundreds of thousands. Yet, we can assure you that it does happen and one player always ends up being very lucky afterwards.

As we mentioned previously, progressive jackpots can work across a large scale of casinos and locations, making it very much international at times, depending on the game and software provider of course. This factor makes progressive jackpots much harder to win as of course you are working against larger odds due to the larger scale and spread across the regions that the jackpot reaches. For this purpose, the jackpots will most likely exceed £1 million very easily!

So, how do you win a jackpot?

Of course, winning a jackpot is not as easy as clicking your fingers, yet there will always be ways where you can improve your chances, just by making sure you execute your gameplay perfectly. The trigger of the progressive jackpot is based on an algorithm however, meaning you will need to hope and pray that it works its magic when you are hitting the reels. However, it never really is as easy and if a win happens it will be because of luck more than anything else. Nevertheless, have a read down below of the possible ways of winning for yourself!

Betting: The larger the better

Yes, you heard it right. If you play with a maximum bet within the slots, you will be giving yourself a head start, because many progressive jackpots only allow players to win if they actually have invested a fair bit in playing the game. But of course, the stories that are circulating the media these days are of players that managed to win millions, just by investing minimum and small wagers. This is a possibility too-but you just need to be extremely lucky to land it!

The larger stake wins work based on a ticket algorithm. Whenever you manage to win tickets after each time of spinning the reel, the more chances overall that you have of finding a ticket which matches that actual winning algorithm. More tickets make your odds higher, however we suppose it is a case of if you are actually willing to keep investing large bets, when the chances are still very slim in terms of winning. It will be a case of you assessing the risk and asking yourself, can you actually take that risk?

Random wins

Of course, the random wins are what it is all about. If you have been playing progressive jackpot games for a while, you will know that the heart flutters that you get, every time that reel spins are unreal. You always phase out, wondering what would you actually do with all that money, should you happen to be one of the lucky ones, right? Dreams do come true and like many others who have played progressive jackpots and won unexpectedly, it can happen to you too. Of course, for reassurance, make sure to check the minimum bets that you will need to place, to put yourself in the running of the jackpot. Each game is different and they will elaborate on the specifics, under the game terms of the slot. Make sure you read up before you play and risk any of your cash!

Sometimes a match of symbols does the trick

In a nutshell, this really can be the case of you actually making a successful win. Why? Because some jackpots of games are secured by landing a series of matching wild symbols for example. That would be the instant win that you need to get the large amount of money. But the manner of you winning will be articulated very specifically i.e. you will need to have the wild symbols on a certain number of reels/positions. It is pretty straight forward to achieve, but let's just say that it is not that easy. Easier said than done..

Bonus features and rounds can trigger it too!

Yes, you heard us right! Some progressive jackpots can be triggered from the bonus features and mini games that are integrated into your gameplay. The bonus round will have you just spinning that reel with the hopes and chance of landing the special symbol or winning combination to do the trick. Sometimes, there is even a card game feature that will be introduced to you, the player, instead of symbol combinations. Each game to their own, so you will need to read up on our slot game reviews, to ensure you are selecting one with your favourite styles of bonus games and game themes!

Playing the jackpot around the time of the last win, is a good idea

It is very logical to think that the prgressive jackpots are based around a time algorithm (which is unknown). However if you happen to base your win around the previous jackpot time, you could be onto something there. Most jackpot wins are reported and documented within the gambling news outlets, including our own site too. Meaning you can really plan your jackpot gaming around the clock of the last winner. Yes it can be quite hard to achieve, but it is a far better way of applying a strategy when it comes to jackpot slots.

Pay attention to the must-drop deadline

All casinos will feature a must drop jackpot and usually because of this, you will find that in certain periods of the season, players will all flock around a progressive jackpot and therefore the amount and potential will very much increase with a very short space of time. Players want to make sure they have a shot of securing the jackpot, so it makes complete sense that there are hot seasons/ hotspots within the gaming calendar of a casino.

Obviously when you play new slots games, you will see a count of how many people are currently live within the game that you are playing, so you can have an idea of the busiest times and peak/off peak hours within a progressive jackpot.

The RNG will affect your gameplay

This is a very important fact to keep in mind when you play progressive jackpot slots. You will need to understand that all the slots are operated under a Random Number Generator. This means that all your gaming will never follow a pattern for you to predict in the process of your gambling, yet of course you can always be smart about it and do your research to plan your gaming around.

The Random Number Generator ensures that all slot games and casino games in general run smoothly and fairly. Fairplay plays a very large factor in any player's experience, as nobody wants to play games that are rigged or give them an unfair advantage in the momentum of their gaming-that is a given. So, although the RNG makes it harder for you to predict a win, it is the best way of ensuring you are playing in a completely safe environment.

What is the potential of a progressive Jackpot?

A progressive jackpot will provide large winning amounts, depending on if the jackpot does not get awarded to anyone and the game is a highly hyped and popular game within the gaming community. The more popular a game is, the more the jackpot prize will stack up. Players will be able to see before entering the game to play, an actual feature where you can see the jackpot go up, for every player who enters and contributes to the jackpot. It really does spur you on, seeing the cash go up as you play. The adrenaline that mounts up as you play is insane!

Jackpots that have not recorded any wins for over a year, or leading up to a year, will always generate a huge buzz. It would not be strange to see the games be one of the top featured games to play of the month, by online casinos. The reason being is that casinos will try to push an attraction onto games that are ‘due’ a jackpot win at any time. As soon as the jackpot amount hits a large value, you suddenly see many players get drawn in like moths to a flame-it is that common!

Many of the jackpot winner stories of today showcase players who won millions from small £0.75 wagers, a few free spins later and immediately finding out that their lives have changed forever. Would we be lying if we said that it has not come into our minds, the reaction and the moment of discovering a jackpot of over £1 million to be ours? It really is pretty mind blowing stuff, there is no doubt about it. One can dream and dream again, right?

It goes without question that the hottest game of the moment (and has been for a very long while) is the Mega Moolah game by Microgaming. This game has created a many fair share of winners in our time and the pending winners to come will be even more extravagant! Microgaming have just this month released a new series to their Mega Moolah games, which also features progressive jackpot networks-four of them. Meaning you have four different chances of stacking up some serious cash when you play. Microgaming have always been good at knowing what games their audience wants, so we are certain it really is onwards and upwards for the future of progressive jackpots across the different software developers of the iGaming industry.

Where to find a Progressive Jackpot?

To find a progressive jackpot that suits your criteria, you will first need to look into the games on offer across the gaming platforms online. Casinos will order their slot games by categories, meaning to filter through should be fairly simple and easy to comprehend. You may also find that casinos order their progressive jackpot games by genre and themes too, so if you are looking for anything that branches off major movies and TV series, this could definitely be a great way to find your feet within the casino community you have picked.

Pay attention to the virtual meters that are presented in the game too, this should indicate to you the calibre of the game and its potential for paying out largely or not. Games with metres exceeding £1million are without a doubt, the hot games of the casino and you should definitely pay your attention to that game in particular. Take our advice and hints..because we definitely have the experience and know!

Of course you can always opt to include your welcome bonus packages and general casino promotions towards your gaming efforts. Slot games generally tend to always contribute 100% towards the wagering requirements, so it is definitely a plus to consider when you play progressive jackpot games.

What type of progressive jackpots are there?

The progressive jackpots that are available to play, include many different derivatives. Some jackpots are one-off or stand alone jackpots and others are spread across a large network of casinos, regionally and even internationally! Make sure to read our summary that we have provided down below, that describes all the features of an online progressive jackpots out there.

Network progressive jackpots 

These casino jackpots are ones that have a high reach across multiple casinos. This means you will be able to play with a larger prize possibility, due to the large range of people that the game is exposed to. Large scale jackpots will always create a large buzz and give mind blowing payouts. One minute you will find a winner located in Europe, the next minute they will be found within the region of America. The possibilities are well and truly endless! Yet, do keep in mind that the payout will be harder to get, due to more people playing. Remember it is all about the fun, before it is about the winning.

Locally sourced jackpots

These games actually are less regionally sourced and you will find that casinos from the same brand/ownership will run these jackpots. For that reason, the games will not be of the top tier software providers of the day, yet nevertheless, it will still be a jackpot worth having, as you go in with nothing, so winning and coming out with more than that is definitely something right? These jackpots also always come with a larger cash amount than stand alone jackpots for example, yet they never match up to the network jackpots-not even close!

Standalone jackpots/one off jackpots

These slots are not spread across any casinos and therefore will be coming out of the pocket of just one casino, rather than many. Meaning players can expect a smaller winning amount due to various reasons such as: less players contributing to the pot of money and the independent casino will need to source the winnings from their pockets as well as the players contributions.

Do I have a good chance of winning a Jackpot?

In terms of winning an actual jackpot, you have just as much chance as any other player! The great thing about progressive jackpots, is the fact that you can win a large amount from a rather small and miniscule wager. Of course, this will depend on the type of jackpot you play, usually the large network progressive jackpots provide winning potential from small wagers, whereas the stand-alone casino jackpots will always require players to usually bet at maximum range to be considered as a jackpot winning potential.

So, depending on the kind of money you want to be in for the chance of, that should help you decide on what jackpot to join in the fun with. The odds are something ridiculous though. Some microgaming jackpots like Mega Moolah, have been reported as 1 in 150 million of a chance in winning, so we suppose you better hope that you're very, very lucky! Who knows? The next win could have your name on it…

Author

Hi, I'm James

"More than 5 years experience in the online gambling sector and 4 of them working with casinos. I'll share my thoughts relating to what you should be looking for in a casino and whether a site is worth your time and money."

Reviewer since June, 2020