Progressive Jackpots

Progressive jackpot slots have always been popular in land based casinos and as a result of this, they can now be found in almost all online casinos. The creation of progressive online slots has meant that wins in excess of $8,000,000 have occurred in online casinos.

What is a Progressive Jackpot?

First of all, a jackpot is the highest payout available in a slot. A progressive jackpot is an ever-increasing prize pot. The value of the progressive jackpot will almost always be shown somewhere on the online slot interface, where you can watch the total steadily increase. Quite often, the amount of the progressive jackpot will also be advertised elsewhere on the online casino’s website.

Progressive jackpots increase by taking a tiny percentage out of each wager placed on the slot, or slots attached to it. All of the players wagering on a progressive slot contribute to the jackpot, which often means it can total thousands, or even millions of dollars.

There are a small number of ways in which progressive jackpots can be won. The most common is that it’s awarded by revealing five of the most valuable, or rarest, symbols on a pay line. Another common way is for the progressive jackpot to be completely random and be awarded following the completion of any spin, regardless of the spin outcome. A less common way of awarding a progressive jackpot can be at the end of a successful bonus round, but this way is rarely used in online progressive slots.

What Kinds of Progressive Jackpots are Available?

There are three different kinds of progressive jackpots that are used in online progressive slots. They are categorized by the size of the network from which the jackpot is added to by, and are known as stand alone, local and wide area progressives.

Stand Alone Progressive Jackpots

Stand alone, or individual progressive, slots are online slots where the progressive jackpot is only added to by one slot. Obviously, the jackpot can still accumulate at a steady rate as there can be thousands of people playing the same slot at any one time, but the larger jackpots are usually found on local and wide area progressive games.

Local Progressive Jackpots

Local progressive online slots have jackpots that are added to by multiple slots based in the same casino. The slots that are grouped together tend to be ones that have a similar theme or are part of a series. Naturally, local progressive jackpots tend to increase at a faster rate due to them being available on more slots and therefore more players playing at the same time.

Wide Area Progressive Jackpots

Wide area progressive online slots create huge jackpots which regularly amount to millions of dollars. These jackpots can be added to by a number of different slots from many different online casinos. While this does mean that there are more players that could win, the speed at which the jackpot accumulates is much quicker, when compared with stand alone and local networks.