Progressive jackpot slots have been responsible for several multi-millionaires in casinos, and there are many more millionaires to come as these slots grow increasingly popular. If you also want to get a piece of the action, you can start by reading about how to play progressive slots like a pro in this guide.
What are Progressive Slots?
Progressive slots are online slots that come with an additional jackpot feature. Some games host a single jackpot, while others like Mega Moolah or Age of the Gods come with up to 4 progressive jackpots.
The jackpot builds up over time until someone either triggers the jackpot win or in most cases, the jackpot pays out on a random spin. Quite often, the top-paying progressive jackpots pay out huge and often life-changing wins.
How Progressive Slots Work
One of the key points we have made during this guide is that playing a progressive slots jackpot is the same as playing a regular slot but with a shot at landing a big win.
Yet, there are some slight differences between a regular slot and a progressive jackpot slot. For every bet you place, the slot will take a percentage and contribute this towards the jackpot.
This also means that the more players playing the slot, the quicker and higher the jackpot will build up. The most popular progressive jackpots attracting millions of players can pay out millions of dollars every few weeks.
The Difference Between Progressive Slots and Regular Slots
The best way to explain how a progressive jackpot works is to compare it to a non-progressive (fixed) jackpot slot.
A fixed jackpot of 5,000x your spin bet will always remain the same. For example, if you bet $1.00 and hit the jackpot, you win $5,000. If the next player comes along and rolls in the jackpot, that player will also win 5,000x their spin bet.
Conversely, a progressive jackpot continues to build up the more players bet on the slot. The only aspect of a progressive jackpot that is consistent is when a player wins, and the jackpot resets to its seed amount. For instance, if a player wins $123,243 and the seed is $50,000, the jackpot resets to $50,000.
After the jackpot resets to its seed, it will restart the process of rebuilding the jackpot amount until another player wins.
7 Steps to Playing Progressive Jackpot Slots
From our experience of playing progressive jackpot slots regularly, here are what we feel are the go-to 7 steps you should take to play progressive slot games.
1. Choose a Progressive Slot
Choose a progressive jackpot slot you want to play. Preferably one that has not paid for some time. Also, remember to choose slots with medium or high volatility according to the style you prefer.
For example, a medium volatility slot will pay out small wins regularly. In contrast, a high volatility slot will only pay out a few small wins and instead pay out big wins infrequently.
2. Select Your Spin Bet Size
Set your spin bet size according to your bankroll management strategy. As we explain in the strategy section below, having a bet sizing strategy is important so you can get more spin in. The more times you spin, the higher your chances of landing a jackpot win.
Take this also into consideration:
- Coin Type: Pick the coin size you want to bet with. This sets how much each coin is worth. Most progressive slots let you tweak the coin size to suit your taste.
- Coins per Line: Decide how many coins to put on each payline. Some slots let you bet multiple coins per line, which can boost your potential winnings.
- Payline Count: Progressive slots usually have several paylines, and you can choose how many to activate. Turning on more paylines ups your chances of winning but also raises your total bet.
3 . Start Spinning the Reels
You’ll need to decide whether you prefer clicking or tapping the spin bet button or whether you’d instead set the slot to auto-spins and sit back to watch the wins roll in.
4 . Wait For Features and Combination Wins
Wait for the slot’s features to kick in, such as free spins or re-spins. Some jackpot games also come with additional pick-me bonus rounds where you can win instant multipliers. In between these bonuses, you’ll collect wins from symbol combinations linking up on the slot reels.
5 . Manage Your Bankroll
As you play, keep an eye on your bankroll. It’s easy to get carried away when chasing the big jackpot prize, but it’s important to stick to your predetermined budget. Set a limit for how much you are willing to spend and walk away when you reach that limit.
Also, keep track of your winnings and losses so you can see if the game is paying out in your favor or not. If you find yourself consistently losing, consider taking a break or switching to a different slot game.
6 . Keep On Spinning
Continue to spin if you are having fun. Online slots are all about gambling entertainment. As long as you have set limits and you are gambling responsibly, there is no reason to quit if you are having fun.
7. Have Fun
Enjoy your winning spins, whether they are small wins or big wins. Small wins are still great because they can pay for your next 2 or 3 spins, while, of course, we all want big wins via bonus rounds!
Progressive Slots Strategies You Should Know
Although progressive slots payout at random intervals, and there is no way to tell precisely when the jackpot will pay, there are still some strategies you can use to give yourself a slight edge.
List of All Progressive Jackpots at The Casinos You Play
Whether you are a new or experienced progressive jackpot player, the best way to get started is to get to know the progressive slots available at your online casino or casinos.
You can divide which ones are worth playing, which ones pay out frequently, and which ones to avoid because they rarely pay out. Also, knowing which slots are available will help you with our strategy number two.
Play Progressive Slots That Have Not Paid Out For a While
This is the oldest trick in the book. If you have gained experience playing jackpot slots over time, you’ll start to gauge the cash level at which the jackpot is most likely to pay out.
If the jackpot usually pays every 4 to 6 weeks, and it’s now 5 weeks since the jackpot dropped, this is the best time to play. As opposed to playing on a jackpot slot that has only just paid out, which means it is unlikely to pay out again for quite some time.
Play On Slot That Are Part of a Progressive Jackpot Network
Some networks connect multiple online slots to the same jackpot. For instance, 10 online slots could be the same jackpot. With multiple slots in play, the jackpot network naturally attracts more players, all contributing a percentage of their bets. The result is jackpots that build up faster and pay out more often.
Set a Bet Sizing Strategy
We love this phrase. You have to be in it to win. Setting your spin bets too high runs the risk of you quickly burning through your casino bankroll. Stating the obvious, once you’ve run out of money, you can’t compete for that elusive jackpot windfall.
Payouts for Progressive Jackpots
One of the most exciting things about progressive slots is the chance to win life-changing payouts. Let’s take a closer look at how these jackpots build up and hear some stories of players who struck it big:
How Progressive Jackpots Build Up
Progressive jackpots increase by taking a small cut from each player’s bet and adding it to the jackpot pool until someone hits the big win. How the jackpot builds up can differ depending on the type of progressive slot.
Here are the three main types and how they build up:
Standalone Progressives
These slots have a standalone jackpot that is only fed by bets placed on that specific machine. This type of progressive usually has smaller payouts but can still be in the tens or hundreds of thousands.
In-House Progressives
In-house progressives connect multiple machines within one casino, which increases the jackpot pool and odds of winning. These jackpots can reach into the millions.
Wide-Area Progressives
Wide-area progressives link machines from different casinos, sometimes even across state lines. With so many players contributing to the jackpot, these types of progressives often have multimillion-dollar payouts.
Wrapping Up
The appeal of playing progressive jackpots is the same as playing the lottery. There is a chance you could land a big win out of nothing. In the iGaming industry, we often see news stories of players placing a mere 50 cents to $1 bet and winning millions of dollars.
Another reason progressive jackpot slots are appealing is that they offer all the same mechanics as a regular online slot game. Free spins bonus games, symbol combination wins, scatter multipliers, wild multipliers, sticky wilds, and cascading reels.
The same can be said for reel mechanics. You will find progressive jackpot slots that use Pay Lines, Megaways, and the no-pay line Ways to Win mechanic. Effectively, you are still playing an online slot with all the mods and features but with the added chance of winning a life-changing win.
