Progressive Jackpot Slots are
simply slot games with an added flavour: a progressive jackpot. A progressive
jackpot is so-called because the pot continues to grow until someone
wins it, after which the progressive jackpot resets at the starting
pot to start growing again.
How Progressive Jackpot Slots Work
The pot of progressive jackpot slot games begins at
a fixed amount. In Mega Moolah’s Mega Jackpot tier for example, the
starting pot is $1,000,000. Progressive slots have widely varying starting
pots. Tunzamunni, for instance, has a starting pot of only $10,000.
The progressive pots of progressive jackpot slots,
however, don’t remain fixed for long. Through time, the jackpot values
rise. There are three main ways by which the pot increases:
· Machine-Specific Progressive
In this type, the progressive pot is accumulated from a fraction of
all bets made on a particular slot machine.
· Casino or Network-Specific
Progressive
In this type, the progressive pot is accumulated from a fraction of
all bets made on a casino’s or a casino network’s progressive slot games.
· Slot-Specific Progressive
In this type, the progressive pot is accumulated from a fraction of
all bets made on a particular slot game, regardless of where the slot
game is played. In this case, the slot game is operated and owned by
a particular slots gaming platform/software provider – e.g. Microgaming
– which distributes the game across a wide variety of casinos. Thus,
all players who play the specific slot game – no matter where they play
it – contribute to the common pot of the progressive slot game.
The last type of progressives offers the greatest potential jackpots.
The progressive pots rise quickly and easily reach six and seven figures.
The games Mega Moolah, Major Millions and King Cashalot all belong to
this last category.
Progressive Slots; Hitting It Big
Progressive jackpot slots are very popular because
of the big prizes at stake. On April 22 of 2008, player Klaus E.
from Finland landed the huge Major Moolah Mega jackpot. His jackpot
winnings amounted to more than $5.5 million dollars – and that spin
cost him only $0.50.
A year later, Major Millions made player Karola
H. a millionaire. She played at Royal Vegas on March 4 and won the progressive
pot worth over $1.2 million dollars. In Europa Casino, player Alain
M. from France played the Beach Life progressive slot on March 21 and
won more than $2.4 million.
