What Are Progressive Jackpots?
Progressive jackpots are amounts offered as the top payouts for particular casino games that continue climbing until a player wins. They are available on a wide range of games, but the most common ones are tied to slot machines.
They tend to run from thousands of dollars all the way up to millions of dollars. Progressive jackpot games are available at online casinos as well as in land-based casinos.
Most progressive jackpot games require maximum wagers to be eligible for the jackpot amount. So if you hit whatever the required combination or hand is to win the progressive but haven’t wagered the correct amount you won’t win the progressive.
How Progressive Jackpot Slots Work
Standard slot machines have fixed jackpots. For example, you might win 5,000x your wager if you land five of the highest-value symbols across a payline.
However, progressive jackpot slots work differently. They also have fixed jackpots, but they have additional jackpots that grow with every spin.
PLEASE NOTE:
When you play progressive jackpot slots online, a percentage of every spin you make will increase the collective jackpot that all players have a chance to win. This is the case at every casino that offers the game, so if you have 1,000 players spinning the reels at the same time, then every spin from all 1,000 players will add to the jackpot, and any one of you might win it.
Think of a progressive jackpot slot as a pool full of money. A small drop of water is drained from every player and funneled into the pool. At any moment, the pool could drain, sending all of that water gushing into one lucky players’ account. It’s not a perfect analogy, but you get the point.
There are various ways to win progressive jackpots. How each one is triggered depends on what game you’re playing. Here are some common ways they’re triggered.
- Matching Symbols – It could be a case of matching five special symbols on a payline. This is how standard jackpots are triggered, and some progressive jackpots work the same way.
- Bonus Rounds – I’ve seen picking games that require you to select coins and reveal colors behind them. When you match three colors, you win the associated progressive jackpot. I’ve also seen bonus wheels that can trigger progressive jackpots. The bonus rounds do tend to make the process of winning much more exciting.
- Random Wins – There are some progressive jackpot slot machines that assign wins randomly. Imagine spinning, spinning, and spinning some more, only to win several million dollars out of the blue. That’s possible when you play the top jackpot slots.