Jackpots – Progressive Slots For The Biggest Wins
It’s hard to keep up with thousands of games available for slots but there are three terms you should remember when choosing one; ‘jackpot’, ‘progressive jackpot’ and ‘jackpot slot’. If you have already visited a slots room or online casino you have most definitely heard of jackpot slots. Before we explore the differences, there are a few commonalities. All slots have a maximum or highest payout amount, which many players refer to as the slot’s ‘Jackpot’. And everyone loves the idea of proudly yelling “JACKPOT” once the slot finally hits the jackpot’s biggest win?
In a nutshell, a normal ‘Jackpot’ is the slot’s highest win either as this is the best payout the slot has to offer. Casinos will often refer to this type of slot as a ‘video slot’ unless the jackpot slot is fixed or progressive. It’s important to note here that each slot will have a fixed section that clearly defines the jackpot payout and how to win it. Think of it like a dart board, you have a particular target to hit in order to win the jackpot up for grabs to win the game.
What is a Classic Jackpot Slot?
Classic jackpot slots typically have fewer features like free spins or bonus rounds and the highest win is usually formed by a combination of 3 symbols on a 3×3 slot game. To win this jackpot slot players must match the highest-valued symbol combination of 3 symbols on a pay line across 3 reels. Note, there are also a large number of slots that randomly payout lucky players without needing a feature to trigger a jackpot win. In this case it’s just a matter of being at the right place at the right time!
What is a Progressive Jackpot Slot?
Think of Progressive jackpot slots like the lottery, if no one wins the lottery keeps rising! Well the same goes for progressive jackpot slots they keep rising as you play, if you lose the jackpot takes a wagering amount (typically 1-5%) and just keeps getting bigger. Unfortunately the odds of winning mega jackpots on Progressive Jackpots are also very similar to winning the lottery so a lot of players normally mix between Progressive and Non-Progressive to increase there odds of wins. In progressive jackpot slots a player can win once they are able to unlock the payout bonus feature or the jackpot reaches its peak payout.
A few of the most popular progressive jackpot games which also happen to be themed like the classic casino table games are; Progressive Blackjack, Progressive Poker and Progressive Roulette. Progressive jackpots games offer extremely generous payouts which often run into the thousands and sometimes even into the millions! Contribution amounts for all jackpot slots vary across casinos, always check for any conditional jackpot rules before playing.
Types of Progressive Slots to Look for
There are usually four different categories of jackpots when you play Progressive slots. These include the Mega, Major, Minor and Mini jackpots. Chance decides which one of the jackpots you win, and naturally the Mega jackpot is the highest and most sought after one.
Of those there are three types of Progressive slots: Stand-Alone Progressive, In-House Progressive and The Wide Area Progressive Jackpot slots. Stand-Alone Progressive slots are not linked to any other games and just adds a percentage of the wagers played to the award for the highest winning symbol combo. In House Progressive slots typically have links in with many other slot games owned by the casino or gaming enterprise.
This is where the Jackpots start getting very big – think thousands and entering into the millions! The last type of progressive slot is the Wide Area Progressive Jackpot which is linked to several unrelated casinos but operates under a common gaming enterprise. These are your Lottery style Jackpots well into the millions! Because they are able to pool the jackpots from so many different players.
What is a Non-Progressive Jackpot Slot?
‘Non-Progressive Slots’, also known as ‘Fixed Jackpot Slots’ is a jackpot slot game where players have the ability to win a fixed payout amount every time they play. The jackpot game should be clearly labelled if not in it’s own site navigation category on all major online casinos. Players typically prefer progressive jackpots due to higher grand jackpot wins and more generous random payouts but players normally find that Progressive Jackpots take longer to win than Non-progressive Jackpots.
Mega Moolah and Mega Fortune
Microgaming’s Mega Moolah is well-known for delivering the highest paying progressive slot online and has 4 jackpots to play on. It’s called Mega Moolah because you can win Mega Millions! This game is easy but takes much patience to win. Once you get into this progressive jackpot you need to trigger the bonus round. The bonus round unlocks a feature game which is a wheel of fortune and the wheel needs to stop on one of the jackpots to win the grand prize.
Fun fact: the largest jackpot ever won was $ 20,062,600 on Microgaming’s Mega Moolah. Mega Moolah’s very close sister Jackpot is the Mega Fortune. Mega Fortune was created by legendary gaming experts Net Entertainment. Indians get an extra bonus with Mega Fortune as it is restricted in some countries including the USA but luck stricks again as it is available to Indian players!
Don’t Run Out Of Luck!
Let’s face it winning the jackpot is everyone’s dream but make sure you don’t get too carried away so you can keep playing all of your favourite casino games. Remember that the aim of the game is to win (hopefully millions) but losing all of your money is no fun so be sure to read up on the slots and their targets but also give yourself a target and a budget! If you’re on a winning streak you want to end on a high note. Your chance will come, as all casinos are mandated to use Random Number Generators (RNG) and are regularly audited to ensure they follow strict protocols.