How Progressive Slots Work

It will take patience and a bit of luck for you to consistently win money while playing online slots. You are going to have to keep grinding away until you hit a winning streak or that one big lucky spin. Do you know why iGaming operators heavily promote slots? They love slots because the house's return typically runs between 88% and 97%, depending on the slot.

We say this as a cautionary take for all American online slot players who envision paying off their mortgages after a few sessions of online casino gambling. With that said, there is a way to win that coveted pot of gold at the end of the iGaming rainbow. The way to riches is getting really lucky while playing a progressive slot game.

What is a Progressive Online Slot Game

A progressive slot game is a game that features standard jackpots, plus an extra jackpot that accumulates over time. As players are playing one of these games, a small portion of every wager they make gets siphoned off into a progressive jackpot. That jackpot continues to grow as these siphoned-off funds are dumped into the final progressive jackpot pool. This process typically continues until one lucky player hits the jackpot. At that point, the progressive jackpot will typically reset to some minimum amount.

To win a progressive jackpot, players will usually have to do something that falls outside of the scope of the standard game. That usually includes having to play an extra bonus feature that will deliver minor prizes and the big $$$ to that one lucky player at a time.

Example: The online video slot titled Mega Moolah (from Microgaming) has been delivering seven and eight-figure jackpots for many years. That includes a couple of world-breaking jackpots that exceeded $20 million USD. That's why they call this online slot "The Millionaire Maker." Note: The game is sponsored by Microgaming and resets to a minimum jackpot of $1 million after a lucky player walks away with the grand prize.

To earn a shot at the Mega Moolah progressive jackpot, players need do nothing more that play the base game. The game is programmed to select players at random, who are then extended an invitation to go to the Mega Moolah Wheel of Fortune. Selected players are granted one spin of the wheel for a chance to win one of four (4) jackpots: Mini, Minor, Major, and the MEGA jackpot. When the wheel stops spinning, the alignment will dictate which bonus will be awarded. If it's the MEGA, beer is on the big winner.

For what it's worth, Mega Moolah has a Return to Player (RTP) percentage of 88%, making it a risky online slot adventure. However, the chance for a shot a glory makes the risk worth taking.

Progressive Online Slot Variations

As you enter the spectrum of online progressive slot play, you will immediately notice that no two games have the exact same configurations. Of course, the stand games are always going to differ. The same is true of each game's progressive jackpot feature.

Before you invest any money playing an online progressive slot, you would be well-advised to read and make sure you understand the game's rules. That will serve to ensure there are no misunderstandings.

As far as progressive jackpot variation, there are four (4) primary variations on which we want to focus. That would be:

• Single slot - single online casino operator


• Single slot - multiple online casino operators (most common)


• Multiple slots - single online casino operator


• Multiple slots - multiple online casino operators
  

Let's take a closer look at each of these variations.

Single slot - single online casino operator

It's not common, but some progressive online slots come with the progressive feature built into a single game. Furthermore, the feature is treated as an intra-online casino feature, which only includes play from players from a single casino. The jackpots tend to be very small due to the limited amount of money that is getting siphoned off into the jackpot pool.

Single slot - multiple online casino operators (most common)

This is by far the most common variation. This is that variation upon which top progressive slots like Mega Moolah, Mega Fortune (NetEnt), 88 Fortunes Jackpot Festival (Light and Wonder), Eye Of Horus Jackpot King (Reel Time Gaming), and Thunderstruck II Mega Moolah (Games Global) were built. It works as follows.

The game is provided by the software developer to online casino operators worldwide. Meanwhile, the game is connected to a dedicated server that is typically maintained by the software developers. This creates a game network of sorts.

As players play the game, no matter which online casino they might be using, a portion of their funds are siphoned off into the jackpot pool as described above. You can only imagine how fast a pool will grow if players from hundreds of online casinos worldwide are playing the games.

When it comes time for a player to get access to the applicable progressive jackpot feature, that player can be selected from any of the participating online casinos. It's this randomness that adds to the intrigue.

Multiple slots - single online casino operator

This might be the rarest of the aforementioned options, but it does exist. It is typically structured around multiple online slots that have originated from a solitary software developer. These games and the progressive feature are maintained by the developer for tracking purposes but sold to individual online operators. Again, these jackpots tend to be on the smaller side because of limited participation.

Multiple slots - multiple online casino operators

This is a variation that seems to be gaining popularity. What's so intriguing about this variation is it opens the door to a lot of different possibilities. This variation is typically structured as follows.

A solitary software developer will create multiple games and tie those games together on a dedicated server. They will then sell the package to multiple online casino operators, giving access to players everywhere. If the games and or operators are popular, the progressive jackpots can become quite substantial.

A great example of this came a few years back when Playtech used this exact structure to create its "Marvel Mystery" progressive jackpot game. What made this game so exciting is Playtech used an army of branded Marvel Comic slots around which to build the game. That included popular titles like Hulk, Captain America, The Avengers, Ghost Rider, Wolverine, and Iron Man I, II, & III.

This was a highly popular progressive jackpot game that often surrendered jackpots in excess. Unfortunately, Playtech was forced to discontinue its Marvel Comins content and the Marvel Mystery game due to the expiration of the software developer's contract with Marvel Comics.

Conclusion: No one is suggesting that you focus solely on playing progressive jackpot games. We are only suggesting that if you want to "swing for the fences" on occasion, a progressive online slot might be worthy of your attention. Again, it's important that you understand both the structure and the rules that apply to any progressive slot you might play. We would recommend that you focus mostly on the ones that have higher RTP percentages and have a history of big payouts.

We would be remiss to not mention that progressive jackpots can also be tied to popular table games like blackjack, baccarat, and roulette. The accumulation factor works the same but the path to the progressive jackpot is often tied to some kind of a specific result within the base game. We thought this was worth mentioning if you like the idea of getting paid a lot of money for a little bit of risk.