I got a couple of questions for you:
- Do you want to win millions of dollars? Maybe buy that Aston Martin you’ve always wanted?
- Do you want the attention of everyone in the casino?
- Do you want to win the envy of all your friends?
Dumb questions, right? Of course you do!
But how do you do it?
Well, in a casino setting this is all but impossible to orchestrate. The odds are against you on nearly every game you play.
So you got to get lucky.
And one of the best games to get lucky on, that can produce millions at the drop of a dime, are progressive slot machines.
Our goal with this page is to answer the most common questions we receive about progressive slot machines. We can’t guarantee that you’ll ever win a progressive jackpot, but we can guarantee that you’ll know a lot about how they work.
About Progressive Slots
Online slot machines that offers progressive jackpots are probably the most exciting casino games to play, because of the chance to win life changing money in prizes. These video slots take a small amount of the bets that are made on them and add that money to the total jackpot pool. The more people play on these machines, the more the big prize grows.
Since all the slots of the same type contribute to the same jackpot, the total size of the prize can get into the millions, making it a very attractive proposition. There is a downside to these games though, as there might be a higher payout percentage when compared with regular machines at some points, and sometimes a lot lower, but many might not ever get to take advantage of this expected payout and thus realize large losses because of it.
Top Progressive Slot Machines
Even though the chance that a player will get a jackpot that is so big that it will change their life is extremely small, some progressive machines are still good choices, so it’s just a matter of finding the ones that give you the best odds.
Tips & Strategies
Whenever you’re playing a machine that has the progressive jackpot feature you need to check out the terms and conditions for it. Some of the machines require you to bet the max bet to even have a chance at the ultimate jackpot, while others does not have such a limit imposed on you. Obviously you can bet whatever size you prefer, but if you are on a limited budget then finding a progressive slot that allows you to bet smaller, like Mega Fortune for example, is a good idea to have your money last longer.
When you’re playing on these machines, you should start out with a set budget in mind, not spend everything you own on them. Since the video slots with progressive jackpots have smaller payout chances, it’s a good idea that you diversify a bit, and you also play on the regular machines as well.
After someone wins the jackpot at one of the casinos that offers the game, the prize will reset at a lower number, so it’s worth checking out if someone won it lately. If there are games that have a higher jackpot because nobody won it in a long time, it’s a good idea to play those slots for a potentially bigger payout.
Progressive Slots FAQ
Here we will try to answer the most common questions regarding the online jackpot slots. If you have a question that you do not see answered here, please feel free to contact us and we will try our best to help you out.
Question 1: What are progressive slots?
Progressive slots are machines that pay out when you hit a (normal) combination of symbols. But they pay out an additional jackpot when you hit the rarest combo.
These jackpots grow ‘progressively’ with each (max) bet that’s made. Part of the bet goes to the jackpot, and the rest goes to that spin.
Question 2: How do you win the jackpot?
Each game will be different. But the idea is the same as a normal win – you just need to hit the right combination of symbols.
For example, the progressive Shopping Spree, pays $100,000 whenever you hit 5 (wedding) rings in a row.
The best way to find out how a jackpot pays is to look at the paytable once you’re logged into the casino / game.
Question 3: What are progressive jackpot networks?
Sometimes a progressive slot machine will be the only one. It only grows (and pays) when someone is sitting at it playing the max.
Other machines are apart of a network. This network can be exclusive to a casino, software provider or group of (online) properties. So instead of one person working on a jackpot, you have lots of people contributing to the same jackpot at the same time.
The benefit to this is that jackpots reach larger numbers (5-7+ figures), and they hit more often.
Questions 4: What is the largest jackpot won online?
A player won a 8.62 million jackpot playing Mega Moolah in 2009 at the River Belle Casino.
Question 5: What is the largest progressive won overall?
The largest jackpot ever won was in Las Vegas. On March 23rd, 2003, a 25 year old software engineer from LA hit the $100 Megabucks jackpot. The odds of hitting the progressive was 16.7 million to 1.
He holds the record for largest jackpot ever won — $39,710,826.36.
Question 6: Are progressive jackpots worth playing?
That depends.
The biggest variable is your bankroll. Do you have enough money to bet what’s necessary to win, for as long as you want to play?
The thing is, the odds are stacked against you (17 million to 1 in the win mentioned above). So I would rather focus on prolonging my bankroll than trying to win a jackpot.
Question 7: Which casinos have the best progressives?
Most casinos use similar software, so you can find large progressives from any casino using Real Time Gaming, Microgaming, Rival or Playtech software. See further up this article for some of our recommendations.
Question 8: Can you play progressive slots on your phone/tablet?
Yes. This depends on the casino though. Some options include Bovada (for Americans), and 888 and Bet365 for everyone else.
Question 9: How often are progressive jackpots won?
Every day. Seriously.
That said, the daily jackpots are for hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. You’re not seeing 6, 7 or 8-figure scores being handed out daily.
You can see an updated list of scores here:
http://www.casinolistings.com/jackpots
http://www.casinolistings.com/jackpots/recent-wins
But the big scores? They are often months or years apart. For example:
- $39,710,826.36 – March 23, 2003
- $34,955,489.56 – January 26, 2000
- $27,580,879.60 – November 15, 1998
- $22,618,156.67 – March 27, 2002
- $21,346,952.22 – June 1, 1999
- $21,147,947.00 – September 15, 2002
- $12,700,000.00 – January 21, 2011
- $10,600,000.00 – April 22, 2011
- $2,882,808.32 – February 19, 2012
Maybe you’ll be the next?
