History of the progressive jackpot
Although slot machines have been in existence for more than 100 years, the progressive jackpot was only developed around 1980. In the beginning of the 80's, developers implemented microchips so videoslots could be connected with each other from different locations. The first progressive jackpot was launched in 1986 by IGT, which is now one of the biggest casino games developers.
The difference between local jackpot and progressive jackpot
There are two types of jackpots on a video slot.
Local jackpot: A jackpot which can only be won by the player who is playing on that specific slot and is not connected with any other slot.
Progressive jackpot: A jackpot which is connected with video slots on different locations and can be won by all players who are playing on that video slot
When you visit an online casino and you search for a progressive jackpot slot, you will notice that there are many famous titles which you can also see on many other casinos. Casino games providers control these progressive jackpots and they connect the jackpot over all of their customers.
For example; the Mega Moolah jackpot slot from Microgaming are supplied to all casinos who have Microgaming games in their assortment. All players who play on those casinos have the same chance to win the Mega Moolah jackpot.
How does the progressive jackpot work?
When you play on a progressive jackpot the casino will pay a small percentage from your bet to the jackpot. When you bet €5 and the jackpot percentage is 5%, the casino will put €0.25 in the jackpot, therefore it will not be deducted from your bet, but instead the pay-out percentage from a progressive jackpot is 5% (or the percentage of the jackpot contribution) lower than a normal video slot. This is to cover the jackpot contribution. So a pay-out percentage of 98% on a normal video slot will be 93% on a jackpot video slot.
From this €5 the casino will earn €1.25 and the player will win €3.50. Together with the €0.25 jackpot contribution this is €5. Of course these are averages and depends on the pay-out percentage
Bet limits on jackpot slots
When you play on a jackpot slot, always read the requirements for winning the jackpot. Normally you need to play a maximum bet and it would be a disaster if you get a jackpot combination, however you didn’t fulfill the requirements to win the jackpot. You would never forgive yourself for this mistake.
So, playing on a jackpot slot means high bets and bigger budgets. If you want to place small bets than choose a normal video slot and not a jackpot slot.
How much can you win on a jackpot slot?
Every year the jackpot winnings are getting bigger and some jackpots already start with 100.000 or more on the counter. Jackpot slots from big gaming providers who have their games connected with a lot of casinos are growing very fast and winnings of millions are not an exception anymore. In 2009 the biggest jackpot win was €8.6 million and in 2015 a Microgaming jackpot reached the record amount of €14 million. In a few years from now, we would expect that players could win a jackpot of €20 million or more.
These jackpot wins are of course very rare, however smaller jackpot wins of 10.000 - 100.000 are happening more often.
Winning can be dangerous
Many jackpot wins change people's lives, and the majority of winners are still living a great life, but without money worries.
That said, there are also stories from winners who got carried away with their win, and spent everything, sometimes even accumulating more debt than they had before their winnings.
So always play responsibly and if you find yourself winning a jackpot of 1 million or more, we would always advise you to get a financial advisor to help you to make the right choices. A financial Advisor will ensure that you can live a luxury life without encountering some of the difficulties that some unlucky winners have.
