A short History of Progressive Slots
Progressive slots weren’t possible in the beginning. They became possible only when microchips began to be added to the machines. IGT was the manufacturer of the slot machine and introduced the first multi-site linked progressive slot machines in March 1986.
The fact that the jackpot is fed from multiple machines (which often are spread across many casinos) can cause it to quickly grow in size. I’ve heard of Las Vegas casinos where slot players won more than $8,000,000 in one win on a progressive Jackpot mega888.
How progressive jackpots work
Progressive Jackpots increase by taking money out of every bet. This means their payout rate for regular wins (non jackpot wins), is lower than that of regular slot machines. If you consider the progressive jackpot, the payout would still be the exact same.
Imagine that you were playing at a Las Vegas Casino on a linked progressive slot machine with a $5 fixed bet per spin. You could have your money split as follows: 25c adds to progressive jackpot, $1.25 to casino, and $3.50 to non jackpot winners. Your money could be split as follows if you played a non progressive slot game at the same casino. $1.25 goes to the casino and $3.75 is paid out for wins.
While the example shows a casino with a 75% payout percentage, slots at land-based casinos have payout rates that range from 70% up to 87%. This is quite different from online casinos that have payout rates as high as 99.5 percent.
If you play at an online casino that has a 95% pay-out rate, the $5 you pay to spin progressive jackpot online slots would be split as follows: $0.25 to play at the online casino. $0.25 is added for the progressive jackpot. The $4.50 remaining is paid in non jackpot winnings.
It is easy to see why so many slots players, including hard core slot players, are playing online.
Online Progressive Jackpot Games
Online gambling is more appealing than playing in land-based casinos because you have more chances to win. You may be wondering how large the progressive jackpots at online casino are compared to land-based casinos. I have already spoken about how huge jackpots can become at land-based casinos. You can find out the answer by looking at their growth. At the moment, the record is $1.76million. However, it is interesting to note that the exact same machine that paid that in December 2005 has a Jackpot of more than $3.5 Million. This is still growing! It is the millionaires club progressive slot. This jackpot will be the highest ever for progressive slots at an online casino.
There is no doubt that a new record will be established even after it has been won. This is because the online progressive jackpots are growing at an incredible rate. A few years ago, a jackpot of just over $1million held the record. I believe that within the next two years, the highest jackpots online will be paid.
How can you pick the winner?
The decision of which progressive jackpot to play can be made easily. It is easy to determine the start point, maximum payout, and average payout. There are a number of slots sites that give you this information including the any of the progressive jackpot reviews at slotsjam.com.
It is obvious that if the jackpot in question exceeds its historical average, the odds of it paying out increase dramatically. And if it surpasses its previous highest payout, the chances of it paying you are increased even more. If you want to win the biggest jackpots, do not play the games after the jackpot has been won. Wait until the game’s historical average payout has been reached for the best chances of winning.