Progressive Jackpot Slots Explained

December 14, 2011

Everyone who plays online slots has the dream of hitting the big win. That one spin of the reels that can change your life forever. Whilst it is possible to win respectable amounts playing an online slot with a standard type of jackpot payout, the really big wins come from online slots which feature a progressive jackpot.

Everyone who has spent even a few minutes checking out online casinos which offer online slots, will have come across the term “progressive jackpot”. Yet many do not understand exactly what a progressive jackpot is, how it works and how it can make them richer than their wildest dreams if their luck is in.

These days, almost every online slot that features a progressive jackpot is tied in to a network of online slots that share a single jackpot pool. In some cases this may just be a handful of online slots provided by a single casino. In other cases this may be dozens of online slots, all sharing a jackpot across a provider network. By provider network we mean the backend gaming platform developed by companies such as Microgaming and Net Entertainment, which can be licensed for use by individual online casino operators.

As people spread across this network of online slots play, then the total of the progressive jackpot rises, based upon the total wagers made by the entire network of players. This total jackpot figure does not reset to zero until it has been won. This means that some of the largest progressive jackpot networks can reach a total of millions of dollars or more very quickly. The progressive jackpot can be won by any player, playing any online slot which makes up part of the progressive jackpot network.

There is a second type of progressive jackpot online slot, a type which is becoming less common as online casino operators move towards networked progressive jackpot pools. This kind of online slot features a stand-alone progressive jackpot. Instead of a pool of networked players adding to the jackpot total, each time the player makes a bet a percentage of that bet is added to the progressive jackpot. If the player hits a jackpot win, the total is paid out. However, this kind of progressive jackpot slot only maintains the elevated jackpot total for the duration of the play session.

For online slots players who are serious about hitting a major win, then it simply makes sense to play online slots that are linked into a major progressive jackpot network. However, it should be understood that the larger the network, the lower the odds of spinning in that life changing win!

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