Walking into the Progressive Slots area of a casino is much
like approaching the Lotto kiosk - am I about to hit the Jackpot this time? It’s
the fantasy of a life-changing win. From now on I will be on Easy Street. I will
never have to work again! That new sports car! The overseas trip! One can even
picture the little spinning icons coming to rest in a straight line in the window
of the slot machine. One can dream of the pleasures and excitement of spending
all that money. Deep down you know that your chances of being struck by lighting
are better than those of hitting the jackpot. So should you give up playing Progressive
Slot Machines?
But you don’t have to avoid progressive slot machines because of the stratospheric
odds. As long as you know that the odds against a win are enormous and you have
realistic expectations, why not keep on playing? Firstly, some progressive machines
are better than others when it comes to paying out jackpots. Secondly, who knows?
The huge progressive jackpots displayed in the casinos are the accumulation of
a percentage of all the money dropped into the slot machine by a succession of
payers over a certain time period. This means that the jackpot grows continuously
as people play the machine and it keeps building until somebody hits the winning
Jackpot symbols. Because a percentage of the coins played goes towards the Progressive
Jackpot, the regular payback percentage will be less on the other winning symbols
and in some case the payback percentage on the Progressive machines may even
be less than other machines in the casino. This is true for the machines that
offer a ‘life- changing’ jackpot. Not all progressive machines are the same.
There are three types of progressive slot machines.
The Stand Alone Progressive
The ‘stand alone’ progressive machine is not linked to any other machines. It
has no fixed jackpot, but takes a percentage of all the coins played into it
and adds that to the award for the highest winning combination. A meter on the
front shows you the value of the jackpot and you can watch the jackpot rising
as you play. In most cases the payback is equal to the other machines of the
same denomination but it is distributed differently to give a varying amount
for the top prize. The progressive jackpots for the stand alone machines are
lower than those from machines that are linked together.
The In-House or Proprietary Progressives
These are a group of machines linked together in the casino. They may be in a
single casino or linked together across several casinos if the same gaming company
operates more than one casino. The jackpot comes from a percentage of all the
money played into the linked machines. It may not be millions but it can be a
substantial win. These jackpots generally hit more often than the Wide Area
Progressives.
The Wide Area Progressive.
These are machines that offer the life-changing jackpots. The machines are linked
together from many unrelated casinos. They are operated by an independent operator.
Slot-maker IGT operates games such as MegaBucks, Quatermania and others in different
States. The casinos share in a percentage of the winnings but the operator owns
the games. The Jackpots may be large but so are the odds of hitting the big prize.
Because of the costs of linking the machines and the administrative costs involved,
the payback percentage on these machines is much lower than on other slots. Your
chances of a win are higher on the Stand Alones and In House Progressives
So try your hand at the big progressive machines and pray that Lady Luck is with
you but don’t make it the main objective of your play. Simply set aside a certain
portion of your bankroll and use that for a shot at the big one. Slot machines
are sheer luck and much like buying a lottery ticket. Don’t spend your entire
bankroll chasing a dream. Remember that playing slots is entertainment. Play
and enjoy! |
