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Understanding Progressive Jackpot Online Slot Games

Understanding Progressive Jackpot Online Slot Games

Added: July 10, 2013

There are slot games in which each and every payout is of a fixed amount that is precisely defined in the payout table. However, there are also some slot games in which the amount of the top payout is not fixed. It keeps on increasing till some predefined event takes place. The second type of online slot game is referred to as a progressive jackpot slots.

A simple description of how progressive jackpot online slots function is as follows. A portion of every wager made on that slot game adds to the progressive jackpot amount. This portion is fixed by the software provider. The remaining portion is used to meet the costs of the online casino and towards contribution to the seed amount of the progressive jackpot. A predefined event may take place during any spin that is activated by any player. When this happens the current value of the progressive jackpot is paid out to the player who has activated that spin. This is known as the progressive jackpot being hit. After the progressive jackpot is hit the jackpot amount is reduced to a starting value also known as the seed value. Thereafter the process is repeated. Usually a progressive jackpot slot game developed by a particular software provider is offered at all online casinos powered by the software provider. Sometimes different online slot games are networked to the same progressive jackpot. Therefore there is sufficient liquidity in most progressive jackpot slot games and the jackpot amount rises quite fast.

The next facet in understanding progressive jackpot online slot games is the triggering event. The most common event is getting a defined combination of symbols on the paylines. Usually a special symbol has to appear on every reel of the payline. This event is visible to the player and he can see the progressive jackpot being hit on the screen. It is usually accompanied by some audio visual indication. A very popular progressive jackpot online slot game of this type is Beach Life from Playtech. The progressive jackpot gets hit when five sun symbols appear on the last payline.

The other type of triggering mechanism is in built into the software, but the player cannot see it coming. He only knows that the jackpot has been hit after it has been hit. There is no specified combination of symbols that has to be achieved. This mechanism is known as randomly triggered progressive jackpots. Most of the online slot games of the Realtime Gaming Real Series are progressive jackpots this type. These jackpots do not pay very large amounts but are hit very frequently for small amounts.

In some randomly triggered progressive jackpots, the jackpot is not immediately hit when the random event takes place. The player is taken to a bonus game and the progressive jackpot is hit as an outcome of the bonus game. This mechanism is used when the slot game has a multi tier progressive jackpot. This means that there are a number of progressive jackpots that are running independently. In the bonus game one of the progressive jackpots is guaranteed to be hit. Most often the smallest jackpot is hit, with the largest jackpot being hit only rarely. The Microgaming progressive jackpot online slot game Mega Moolah is an example of this. In the randomly triggered bonus game a wheel of fortune is spun, which leads to one of four progressive jackpots being hit.