In our last article in the series, we looked at the slot machine and how it developed into the online casino behemoth that it is today; the chief source of revenue for both online and real world casinos.
Indeed, the humble slot has come a long way from its very first incarnation at the turn of the 19th century, the Liberty Bell, invented by American Charles Fey.
However, the advent of the Internet has revolutionised just what can be achieved with a slot game. In the same way that the move from mechanised to electronic games and the advent of the micro chip changed the slot industry, the Internet has allowed slot developers to become even more creative and ambitious with their designs.
And without doubt one of the most important aspects of this is the development of progressive jackpot slots.
What is a progressive jackpot slot?
A progressive jackpot slot is a game that looks and plays like a typical slot game. It has reels, symbols and pays out players in a very similar way to all other slots. It also can have all the same features of a typical slot including wild symbols, scatter symbols, bonus games, gamble features and more.
Indeed, if you were to view a picture of a progressive slot compared to a traditional non-progressive slot then you would likely not be able to tell them apart, other than for one small detail and that would be the progressive jackpot total increasing upwards with every spin of the wheel that is made.
It is this which separates a progressive slot from a traditional slot; the inclusion of an ever-increasing jackpot, the size of which is dependent upon the number of players that play the game (plus its default starting point).
In a traditional slot, the money you wager on a spin is, to all intents and purposes, split two ways. A very small percentage goes to the casino as its profit and the remaining cash is paid out to players who win on the slot.
There's a difference with a progressive slot in that your wager is split three ways. A small percentage still goes to the casino and by far the largest percentage of your money is paid out to players as winnings in the standard slot game. However those two percentages do not add up to your full wager as on a progressive slot, another small percentage of your wager is added to the progressive jackpot fund with every spin you make.
As you can imagine, this means with every spin of the slot you pay for, you are increasing the size of the jackpot. Now if you factor in thousands of other players playing the same slot as you every day and perhaps weeks or even months, maybe even a year passing in between a jackpot being won, this means that the progressive slot fund can grow to a far larger sum of money than the game would pay out even as a jackpot in its standard game.
So to allow these progressive jackpot amounts to increase, they are very difficult to win. Similar in many respects to picking out your lottery numbers and having all six of your numbers come out on the lottery machine.
It is important to note here that this does not mean that a progressive jackpot slot will pay out any less than a traditional slot. If you play the base game and bonus features on a progressive game, then you can still win cash, and not inconsiderable sums, playing these games as you would on a traditional slot.
Let's use percentages as an example, let's say a typical slot has a split of 10% profit to the casino and 90% of the cash taken in paid out to customers in winnings. If a progressive jackpot version of that game was to be made, then one possibility would be to have 5% profit to the casino, 90% of cash paid out to customers and 5% of your wager a contribution to the progressive jackpot fund.
This way a progressive slot still appeals as a traditional slot as you can still win the smaller amounts of money and jackpots on offer, but you also have the chance, albeit a slim one, of winning a very large, potentially life-changing amount of cash, depending on the progressive slot that you choose to play.
One final point to remember is that not all progressive jackpots have to be huge. Some games such as Mega Moolah actually have several progressive jackpots available within a single game. Mega Moolah has FOUR progressive jackpots available (micro, mini, major and mega) but it is only the mega jackpot (which is triggered most infrequently) which delivers the million plus prize.
In addition, the size of the progressive does depend on how much the default reset of the slot is. Mega Moolah for example resets by default to US$1m after a win, ensuring that the jackpot is always above this amount. Other slots, have smaller reset amounts, which means that they tend to offer smaller jackpots.
Indeed, some progressive jackpots may only be tens, hundreds or thousands of pounds; it does very much depend on which type of progressive you play as to how much you could potentially win.
A great rule of thumb to follow is the bigger your progressive jackpot, the less frequently it is to be won.
Now let's take a look at how you can play progressive slots.
How do I play a progressive jackpot slot?
The great news for slots fans is that playing a progressive slot is essentially the same as playing any other slot, only with the added bonus of that if you do strike it lucky and you land the right combination, or win the key bonus game, you could be taking home a massive sum of money.
Indeed it is this very reason which has made progressive slots so popular with casino patrons. There's no extra skills or knowledge you need to play; if you have played any slot game in your life then you can play a progressive slot without any problems whatsoever.
The process of playing is exactly the same, enter your bet, spin the reels and see what the outcome is.
Like with all slots, there's no strategy involved and there isn't any skill involved either. You simply play the slot and hope that you strike it lucky.
One key thing to avoid however is the gambler's fallacy that sometimes progressive games are ready to be won' or in contrast 'won't be won for a while as they have just paid out'. The odds of winning the progressive are the same on every spin, regardless of when the last jackpot was paid out.
Ignore this slice of misinformation and you can enjoy progressive slots for what they are; a slot game that offers you a chance of a big money win. But what exactly are those chances?
What are my chances of winning on a progressive jackpot slot?
And therein lies the rub for many slots players. In order for progressive jackpots to reach the very large levels that can be achieved on games such as MegaMoolah.com, the game has to be popular with players and also the jackpot needs to be won only rarely in order for the game to be profitable for the casino to offer and also to build up to the sums of money that will genuinely attract lots of players to play.
Therefore, your chances of winning a massive progressive jackpot are only very, very small on every spin.
That does not mean, as we have already ascertained, that you can't win other amounts on your choice of progressive slot. You can still win the base game jackpot and bonus cash from bonus games and gambles if they are offered on your progressive game.
However, the chances of landing the right combination to win the big one is rare. On some games, it can be weeks between winners, on some of the bigger it can be many months, however in that time the jackpot can grow to huge amounts.
This is the progressive slots biggest drawback, but also its most attractive feature. As the jackpot grows the game will attract more players, which in turn will see the jackpot rise more quickly and the more spins of the game that are played, the more the likelihood is one player will win the jackpot.
So your chances of winning the big progressive are only very small but you have the same chance of everybody else playing the slot in order to land a winner.
Head on over to MegaMoolah.com and you'll have a chance to play for millions!
Next Post: The etiquette that comes with shooting Craps
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