These progressive games are pre-programmed in such a way so that a percentage of each bet goes towards the jackpot pool. The contribution rate depends on the roulette variation but usually the amount subtracted from the players’ wagers is minuscule and rarely exceeds 1%. Progressive Slots Jackpots. Although progressive jackpots are strongly associated with slots, and particularly online slots in 2020, they are also available in other games like video poker, blackjack and roulette.Like these games, a progressive jackpot is triggered by an event which is usually completely random and can be won by any eligible player. The actual odds of winning are not publicly promoted by the slot providers. In fact, when the Megabucks winner was announced, odds of winning were mentioned to be nearly one in 17 million, but some say it could be as high as one in 50 million. What is the House Edge? Progressive machines are linked together, and the maximum jackpot is determined by how much they're being used. The more people play them, the higher the jackpot amount. However, because of the number of people vying for that jackpot, your odds of winning at progressive machines are lower than fixed machines.

• Natural State Jackpot Odds
• Powerball Jackpot Odds Of Winning
• 3 Card Poker Progressive Jackpot Odds
• Powerball Jackpot Odds

Who Wants to be a Millionaire? You do!

Megabucks, Mega Moolah, Major Millions, Mega Fortune, millionaires have been
made courtesy of these mega games.

Progressive jackpots have been a part of the slot experience since Megabucks
first hit the casino floors in 1986. IGT’s creation has turned hopeful players
into instant millionaires. Megabucks is a networked slot game with 750 machines
in 136 Las Vegas casinos.

You don’t need to walk through actual casinos doors to get in on this type of
jackpot opportunity, though. I-Casinos have Mega Moolah, Wheel of Fortune, and
dozens of other options available to players right in their livingroom or even
on smartphones and tablets on the move.

As the name implies, progressive jackpots have increasing top prizes that are
tied into the amount of betting volume. A small percentage of every wager goes
toward building the pot and the longer it’s not claimed, the bigger it gets.

There are three types of jackpot games:

1. Stand alone – one-off games where a portion of the bets goes to
   increase the grand prize for that particular game only
2. In-house progressive – these are much more common in brick and
   mortar casinos and included linked machines but only in-house and not through a
   big casino network
3. Networked – here’s where the massive money comes in as networked
   slots are hosted in several locations whether in person or through iCasinos to
   build a bigger prize pool through more player interaction

Slots Pay Big

When we talk about the advantages and disadvantages to slot play, one of the
top benefits is always “big payout potential.” Slots may have the largest casino
edge, but they also provide some of the highest rewards through networked games.

$39,710,826! Can you even imagine? In 2013, a Los Angelian playing at the
Excalibur put in $100 and walked away with the
largest jackpot in Las Vegas history on the Megabucks machine. He beat the
odds of one in 16.7 million (an extremely conservative estimate), and can
honestly say that his life changed that day.

That record setting money was won in person, but online players are not left
out either. A Guinness Book record-setting €17.86 million was awarded on
NetEnt’s online
Mega Fortune machine. At any given time, you can find different casino sites
featuring million-plus prizes. Mega Moolah always starts out at £1 million even
if the prize was just claimed. The more you play, the more you’ll know the games
to look for as there are some that are singled out as the best jackpot machines,
even in the virtual world.

Don’t Disregard the Smaller Payouts

There are a handful of those massive payout games, but even more with
ever-changing amounts that range from over a thousand to £50,000, £100,000, and
even in the £500,000 range. Availability depends on the particular iCasino and
the software it uses, as every company will vary.

You can typically find these types of slot games through a dedicated
“Jackpots” link, or if you scroll through the list of games, the current payouts
should be posted as well.

Relatively smaller payouts don’t just apply to the top prizes as some games
have more than one jackpot level. Mega Fortune has a Rapid, a Major, and then
the Mega prize. Approximately 1% of every bet goes to fund the Rapid, another 1%
to the Major, and then 5% goes into the Mega prize pool.

Not Just for Slots Anymore

We’ve referenced a few slot games that stand out, especially for regular
players who are well aware of the top paying games, but other casino games
provide progressive payouts as well. Video poker can have a rising Royal Flush,
and Caribbean Stud, Hold ’em, or Draw are well-known table progressives with
jackpots triggered by side bets.

Natural State Jackpot Odds

There are Blackjack progressives, and even roulette can be converted to this
type of game. Microgaming’s Roulette Royale pays players every time a number
repeats. If the number comes out five times in a row, the player is the lucky
(and happy) recipient of the current jackpot payout.

Progressives on Mobile

You won’t find that all progressive games transfer over to mobile casinos,
but a good many of them do, and more and more are being added as new apps are
created. There is more of an emphasis being placed on smartphone and tablet
access as mobile play is on the rise.

In 2015 another Guinness Book World record was broken through the £13.2
million Mega Moolah jackpot, this time the winner was using the mobile casino.

Odds, Strategy, Payouts, and More

What Are the Odds of Winning a Million-Plus Prize?

Odds will vary depending on the game itself. With networked progressives, the
odds should be consistent regardless of your chosen casino, though. One site
wouldn’t be able to offer better odds than another as fairness needs to be the
top priority.

The one thing that does affect odds, though, is the amount of the
wager.

Higher denominations provide a slightly better chance of hitting your
target. The actual odds of winning are not publicly promoted by the slot
providers. In fact, when the Megabucks winner was announced, odds of winning
were mentioned to be nearly one in 17 million, but some say it could be as high
as one in 50 million.

What is the House Edge?

You may be familiar with the term payout percentage or house edge and what it
refers to is the overall percentage that the casino retains from a long-range
series of bets. It’s averaged out factoring in over a million spins, and slots
typically claim anywhere from 82 to 98% as payout percentages leaving the casino
with 18 to 2%. Again, these numbers vary with the machine, the provider, and
with time. For the most part, though, jackpot progressives will be providing a
lower payout percentage to players as that big top payout number needs to be
funded, plus the casino still needs its take. For many of those big name games,
the casino take could be as high as 10 to 15%.

Who Pays Out the Winnings?

The smaller payouts are issued by the casinos or i-casinos, and that would
include the lower level jackpots. The software company only gets involved in the
bigger prize payouts, especially the linked progressives hosted in multiple
locations.

Is the Jackpot Paid Out All at Once?

We hate to be vague but, again, this does depend on the game, the software
provider, and the terms and conditions of the casino itself. As a general rule,
if the software company pays, it will be paid out all at once. If the casino
pays, there could be monthly withdrawal limits that may extend overall payment
issuance by months or even years. Some sites list $5,000 a month of £20,000 a
month as the most that it will issue, so the total winnings are divided out
accordingly.

Because payouts differ so wildly between i-casinos, we’ll use the
example of
Megabucks instead. If a player wins the top prize that starts out at $10
million, he or she receives a check for 1.4 million straight away and then has
60 days to opt for payout in annual installments or lump sum. If the upfront
payout is chosen, the actual check is for 60% of the total prize, and that’s
before taxes. Annual installments spread payments out for 20 years, so most opt
for the 60% scenario and call it a day.

Is There a Strategy to Better the Odds for Progressive Games?

Obviously, there’s no guarantee, but there are a few considerations that may
make a difference.

Step 1 – Find a Random Jackpot Game

If you are very limited on betting funds and
want to play for that big money prize, you are better off selecting a game like
Mega Moolah with a random bonus set-up. That means that the bonus round isn’t
triggered on pay lines. It could pop up at any time. One of the
biggest game winners was only
betting 25p.

Step 2 – Always Bet the Maximum When Required

Although not across the board, most
progressive jackpot games are dependent on a maximum wager. If you’re playing
one of those, you can’t cut corners and lower your bet, or you are totally out
of contention for the progressive amount and may end up with something like a
few hundred instead.

Step 3 – Play the Same Game For as Long as You Can

Play the same game for as long as you can – this could be debated,
but many experts say that you have a better chance of winning if you stay
consistent and play the same jackpot machine for as long as you possibly can to
increase your overall odds.

Why Would I Play Anything Else?

There are a few reasons why progressive jackpots are not always the game of
choice.

1. The odds are not in your favor…

   The odds of winning are much less
   as opposed to a game with a relatively lower prize pool. Extended playing time
   is needed to build up that significant jackpot amount, so odds will then be
   established accordingly.

2. Top paying games pay less along the way…

   Again, that prize money needs to
   come from somewhere, and it originates from the players. If more cash is being
   dedicated to one big payout, then you’ll see much few low tier wins on your
   quest.

3. It can be expensive…

   Unless you’re playing one of those random jackpot
   versions, a maximum bet is required, and the betting can get steep. Even if it’s
   a three-reel, one line game and the denominations are one pound, you’re putting
   up £3 every time you press spin. Move to a multi-pay line game and the
   investment is that much greater. 25 pay lines = £25 if you’re still paying a £1
   denomination.

Some Online Progressive Jackpots

Pretty much anywhere you go to gamble online these days; you’ll find a
collection of jackpot games as the appeal of these large money prizes is so
enticing.

Microgaming is one of the largest providers of online jackpot games, and its
collection goes well beyond slots although it is the creator of the popular Mega
Moolah, the game that never dips below the £1 million payout mark. It also
produces Roulette Royale that we previously mentioned. It’s a regular Roulette
game, but players get paid whenever a number repeats. The big prize is claimed
if a number recurs five times in a row.

It seems nearly impossible, but it has
been done, several times in fact.

Other Microgaming progressive jackpot options:

• King Cashalot – a “pick until you collect” bonus game where players opt to discard current winnings for a bigger jackpot
• Poker Ride – a straight flush claims 10% of the jackpot prize pool
• Triple 7’s Progressive Blackjack – allows for a range of betting denominations
• Major Millions – the slot game that starts out with a minimum £250,000 prize
• Tunzamunni – a nickel progressive that’s just a three-reel, one line game and, the current top prize is more than £84,000
• Cash Splash – two versions being a three reel, three coin primary game or the five-reel, 15 line option
• Supajax – Jacks or Better video poker with a Royal Flush progressive

Playtech is another manufacturer of many progressives. It initially provided
a Marvel super hero collection but lost the licensing. Fortunately, super hero
fans are still well accommodated, though, as the
DC Superhero Jackpot is currently over £700,000 and includes games like:

• Batman and the Joker Jewels
• Batman and Catwoman Cash
• Superman I and II
• Green Lantern

All super hero slots are networked together and offer the same jackpot payout
potential.

The Pros and Cons of Progressive Jackpot Games

• Instant millionaires are made
• Now available in most online casinos and their corresponding mobile casinos
• 24/7 access to the action
• Many have lower level jackpots as well
• Non-networked progressives will have better odds
• Entertaining with different themes and bonus rounds

• Maximum bet may be required
• Smaller wins aren’t as frequent
• Prize payout may not be issued all at once
• Greater house edge than regular slots, video poker, or table games
• Table game progressives require a bigger bet

Conclusion

We all know that the biggest progressive jackpot prizes come with odds
similar to winning the lottery. But, if you’re going to play slots anyway, it’s
fun to know that it “could” happen. New games are consistently being released,
and there are games out there to accommodate all budgets. Why not throw your hat
in the ring? You just never know.

Progressive slots (and video poker games) offer jackpots that increase every time someone makes a bet up until someone wins. At that point, the progressive jackpot resets to its starting value and starts accumulating again.

The amount that the jackpot rises is based on a tiny percentage of your action on the machine. Most progressive slot machines are now pooled with other machines so that the jackpot goes up fast, although some games are still standalone progressives.

The best way to think about progressive slots is that they’re the slot machine equivalent of a lottery game. The odds of winning are long, but the prizes are huge. In most lotteries, the size of the prize increases from drawing to drawing until someone wins the lottery.

You’ll know you’re playing a progressive jackpot game because it will feature a prominent jackpot meter showing the size of the jackpot. This is also sometimes called a “jackpot ticker,” because it ticks upward as players on the network lose bets into the machines on that network.

Powerball Jackpot Odds Of Winning

This post features 10 of the most interesting facts I could find about progressive slot machines.

1 – Megabucks Is the Biggest Slot Machine Jackpot

Megabucks is IGT’s most famous progressive slot machine. It’s a state-wide game run in Nevada, and it’s the main reason the state doesn’t have an actual lottery. Who needs a lottery when you can just play the Megabucks slot machine?

Megabucks isn’t new either, the games have been available now for a couple of decades. Several people have won millions of dollars over the history of the game.

To play Megabucks, you must wager $3. It’s a dollar machine with a three-coin maximum bet. If you don’t place the maximum bet, you’re not eligible for the jackpot.

In Nevada, at least 750 different slot machines in over 125 different casinos pool those tiny contributions to grow that $10 million jackpot faster than you’d think is possible.

The odds of winning Megabucks is similar to that of winning the lottery, 50 million to 1. And like the lottery, winners get paid in the form of an annuity that pays annual installments over the next 25 years.

If you go with the cash option, you can settle for 60% of the prize amount as just plain cash. It’s hard to deny that Megabucks is the most interesting progressive jackpot game in the United States.

2 – Megabucks Has a Curse Associated With It

Some gamblers believe that if you win Megabucks, you have a greater than usual probability of dying young.

This legend of the “Megabucks curse” stems from the death of Cynthia Jay-Brennan, a cocktail waitress who won $35 million Megabucks only to be paralyzed in a car wreck. Jay-Brennan’s sister died in the wreck, which was caused by a drunk driver.

Most of the other tales of woe related to Megabucks are nothing more than urban legends, though.

It’s the opinion of this blogger that the wreck was just “one of those things,” and Cynthia Jay-Brennan has my sympathy.

3 – Progressive Jackpots Can Put the Odds in the Players’ Favor

Any game with a progressive jackpot can offer a player a positive expectation bet if the jackpot is large enough.

The trouble with slot machines is that no one knows exactly what the payback percentage for the game is, so it’s impossible to determine what the size of the jackpot would have to be.

But in other games with progressive jackpots, like video poker, you can compute the break-even point for the game and only play after the jackpot has exceeded that point.

The optimal strategy for playing such a game changes based on the size of that jackpot, too.

4 – Some Progressive Games Get Attached by Advantage Player Teams

An advantage player is a gambler who only gambles when he has an edge over the casino. The classic example of an advantage gambler is a card counter in blackjack.

But we already discussed how a gambler could have an advantage at a progressive slot machine game.

They play as a team until someone on the team wins the progressive jackpot, and the team then splits the profits. Some casinos don’t mind this type of advantage play much, because even though the players have an edge, the jackpot comes mostly from players’ contributions to the game over time.

Other casinos have policies forbidding team play and will back off or bar such players.

5 – Slot Machines With Progressive Jackpots Have Worse Odds

You measure the casino’s advantage with a slot machine by looking at the payback percentage, or return to player percentage, for the game. This is the flip side of the house edge.

The payback percentage estimates an average amount that will be returned to the player in winnings over the long run based on the odds of winning and the prize amounts. The house edge estimates how much the player will lose on each bet.

The higher the payback percentage is, the better the game is for the player. For example, a slot machine game with a 98% payback percentage is better than a slot machine game with an 88% payback percentage.

Generally, there are two factors that ensure the progressive jackpot games have a lower payback percentage.

• The first is simple to understand. A percentage of each bet is diverted toward increasing the size of the jackpot. That amount comes directly from the payback percentage of the game.
• The second is only slightly harder to understand. A large percentage of the game’s payback percentage is based on the payout from the jackpot. If a game has a 95% payback percentage, 5% of that might be made up of the jackpot.

But with a game where you only have a 1 in 50 million or even 1 in 10 million chance of seeing that jackpot, the payback percentage before that jackpot gets hit will necessarily be lower than that 95%.

The more economical choice for slot players is always the flat-top slot machine, not the progressive slot machine.

6 – Mega Moolah Is Probably the Best Progressive Jackpot Online

Mega Moolah is an online-only progressive slot machine game with five reels and 25 paylines. The game’s symbols and sound effects have an African theme, with elephants and zebras.

In the decade since Microgaming launched Mega Moolah, no other online slot machine game has produced as many millionaires.

The prizes for Mega Moolah have ranged from $5 million to $13 million. That $13 million was the biggest online jackpot win in history, too.

3 Card Poker Progressive Jackpot Odds

7 – You Usually Can’t Win the Progressive Jackpot Unless You Play Max Coins

Most slot machines have a denomination and a maximum number of coins you can wager. Most of the time, you can bet less than the minimum without any kind of adverse effects.

But progressive slots, like video poker games, are an exception.

If you don’t bet the maximum number of coins, you’re usually ineligible to win the progressive jackpot.

This doesn’t make much of a practical difference, since the probability of winning a progressive jackpot is practically zero anyway. Once the probability of an event gets small enough, it might as well be zero.

8 – Some Online Casinos ONLY Offer Progressive Jackpots

One online casino, Slotland, offers a minimal number of games, but they all share the same progressive jackpot. You can’t play there from the United States, but it’s probably just as well. The casino has some misleading practices, especially in terms of how their video poker and blackjack games work.

When a casino offers a video blackjack or video poker game, they’re implying that those games follow the same probabilities you’d see if they were using a deck of playing cards.

If you’re okay with that, it might be okay to play there, but the most interesting thing about that casino is that all the games tie into the one big jackpot.

9 – A Standalone Progressive Offers Better Odds

You’ll find three different kinds of progressive slot machines:

1. Standalone progressives
2. Local area progressives
3. Wide area progressives

A standalone progressive slot machine is one where the jackpot can only be won on that machine. But playing on that machine counts toward raising the jackpot. The size of the jackpot on a standalone game is almost always smaller than the jackpot on other kinds of machines.

A local area progressive network is a network of machines in the same casino, usually all within a short distance of each other. These jackpots are bigger than what you’d see on a standalone progressive, but not as big as you’ll see with a wide area progressive jackpot.

A wide area progressive jackpot is similar to what you see with Megabucks. Multiple machines in multiple locations feed the jackpot. This game has the biggest prizes.

The best odds for the player can be found at the standalone progressive slots, because the jackpot is smaller. In fact, the lower the jackpot, the better the odds are in general with a slot machine game.

10 – You Can Win the Progressive Even With Your Slots Club Card Inserted

There’s a popular myth/urban legend that you can’t win the top jackpot on a slot machine if you’re playing with the slots club card inserted. This isn’t true.

Powerball Jackpot Odds

The random number generator running these machines isn’t aware of whether you’re playing with your slots club card inserted or not. It’s impossible for it to have such an effect on your gaming experience.

Conclusion

Progressive slot machines can be a lot of fun as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into. Generally, I recommend avoiding them for games with lower jackpots, but certain players prefer to play for big, life-changing prizes.

If that’s your cup of tea, be my guest. What kinds of facts about progressive slots do you know that I haven’t covered here? Leave a comment and let me know.