With jackpots that can run into millions, it's not surprising that progressives are a popular slot type. If you're up for the challenge, you can find yourself a top-rated online casino with progressive jackpot slots. Browse this page and learn how to play progressive jackpot slots.
How Progressive Jackpots Work at Online Casinos
Progressive jackpots at online casinos work the same as in land-based venues: they build up the game's top prize by adding a percentage of each wager to the jackpot pool.
Feeding a single jackpot pool via multiple games or even multiple casinos means that the prizes in progressive slots are much bigger than in regular slot machines. Once a lucky player triggers the jackpot, the pot will reset and bring the prize to the initial amount, aka the seed.
Each progressive slot has its own set of rules that govern how the jackpot is triggered: most times, the trigger is random, but you can also find games where you need to land a predetermined combination of slot symbols or fill the grid with a single symbol, etc.
Winning a Progressive Jackpot
Winning a progressive jackpot slot is an extremely rare occurrence. The exact odds depend on specific games—according to the RTP, volatility level, and hit frequency set by the software provider—and the casino, but on average, the chance to hit a progressive jackpot is 1 in 75 million.
Most often, the top prize is triggered randomly. This is how some of the best jackpot slots work: the jackpot is landed by a mere coincidence, not by chasing (a) particular symbol(s).
Given the size of these prizes (anywhere from a couple hundred to millions of dollars), jackpot slot machines are, as a rule of thumb, high-volatility games, meaning they pay out quite rarely, but their payouts are more substantial.
Different rules also influence the odds of winning a jackpot. For instance, most slot machines participating in a progressive jackpot network will require you to make a maximum bet (the highest possible wager) to qualify for the grand prize.
Tips to Win Progressive Slot Machines
As we said, the chances of winning a progressive jackpot are roughly one in 75 million. For comparison, you have a 1 in 14 million chance of winning the top prize in a lottery game with a 6/49-number combination.
Statistics aside - is there a strategy for playing progressive slots that will pay off?
The usual slot machine strategy doesn't apply to progressive jackpot slots, but here are several tips to help you get the most out of your time spent playing a progressive slot:
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Play Maximum Bet When Required
Although some progressive slots may not have the max bet requirement to win the biggest jackpot, most of them do impose the maximum bet rule. Therefore, pay attention to the rules and place the maximum wager to be eligible for the top prize if needed.
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Set a Budget
With their massive prizes, progressive jackpots can indeed be attractive and enticing, but they can also cost you a lot if you're not cautious. Sticking to a budget is crucial, so make sure you define a progressive slot bankroll and don't exceed it.
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Play When Jackpot Is High
Although most progressive slots feature a sizable seed of $5,000+, playing them when the jackpot resets is a waste of time. Play a progressive slot machine when the jackpot reaches a considerable amount.
Types of Progressive Jackpot Slots
At their core, all progressive jackpot slot machines work the same. However, there are several different types of progressive jackpot slots, so let’s break ‘em down:
Standalone
The oldest version of progressive jackpot slots are standalone progressives. These are slot cabinets that aren’t linked to other games or machines. Novomatic is probably the most popular manufacturer of these machines that you can find in virtually every land-based casino or slot club.
In-House/Local
With local progressive jackpots, the top prizes are accumulated from several machines at the same casino, allowing the jackpot to grow faster and reach more substantial payouts.
Wide-Area/Network
Finally, we have Wide-Area Progressives (WAP) or network jackpots, which involve hundreds of online casinos or gaming platforms interlinking a single game with the prize pool building up with each wager. Network progressive jackpots are where we start to see dizzying payouts, upwards of millions of dollars.
One such example is the inescapable Mega Moolah from Games Global. The game’s prize pool is fed by players from hundreds of participating online casinos, allowing it to dish out multi-million jackpots. Since its release in 2006, the game has paid out over a billion dollars.
One of the more recent jackpot networks that has already made several millionaires is Relax Gaming’s Dream Drop, launched in 2022. It consists of five jackpots that are triggered randomly to deliver colossal wins.
Spinning Jackpot Slots In Free Play
Just like regular online slots, free progressive slots are a good way to see if you like the game before committing your money. In general, how progressive slots work is quite similar to video slots, but there are several differences worth distinguishing before you start spinning them in real mode.
Best Progressive Jackpot Slots
While our assortment of progressive slots is truly enormous, some of the slots seem to stand out from the crowd. More precisely, specific progressive jackpot slots have gained a reputation for making dreams come true:
- Mega Fortune (NetEnt)
- Jackpot Giant (Playtech)
- Joker Millions (Yggdrasil)
- Hall of Gods (NetEnt)
- Age of the Gods (Playtech)
The fact that these slots have turned many players into wealthy individuals overnight is why they reign supreme on the list of the best progressive slots.
