Casino History UK

What is a progressive slot?

When you play on a slot machine, you hope it’s “jackpot day’ for you- the odds are that it won’t be, but that doesn’t stop you from playing and dreaming. Usually, the jackpot is just a fixed amount on any slot, but in a progressive slot machine, the pot grows slowly. Progressive slots are easy to identify as a continuous ticker tells you how much you can win by just putting in a little money.

Why they’re called Progressive Slots

It’s easy to see why they’re called progressive slots- each time players add a coin into the machine, a small percentage of it goes towards building the jackpot. Over time, this progresses and gradually swells. Progressive slots are not for the faint-hearted- you’re tempted to thinking that you’ll win big and before you know it, have run through that considerable bankroll that you had with you.

Some progressive slots offer huge pay-outs, while others provide more modest ones. It’s a given that the odds of winning a progressive slot are remote. All progressive slots have a jackpot meter that indicates the value of the jackpot at that instant of time. Located above the slot machine, it’s easy to see how the pot grows with the insertion of coins in the slots. Many slot games are linked together and constitute one big progressive jackpot.

Casinos know that the number of players that play online on progressive slot machines, the higher the jackpot will be and that in turn will trigger a higher number of players for progressive slots.

Different types of progressive slots

There are three different types of slots, and you can choose your niche depending on the size of the jackpot.

Stand-alone slots

As the words suggest, this is a single slot machine with a progressive jackpot- since it’s not connected to other slot machines, the prize is never very high. Sometimes it’s even as low as 1,000 and usually climbs up into the 10,000 range.

Locally Linked

Groups of progressive slots are linked together, and the jackpot is the sum of all pots in the several machines. Much more significant than a stand-alone slot but smaller than the global vast area slot machine, they offer more significant pay-outs when compared to the single slot machines. Jackpots can run into tens of thousands here.

Global Wide Area Progressives

These are easy to identify given the immense size of the jackpot that can efficiently run into millions and more. Unlike locally linked machines that link to others in the place, these devices are connected to many others across the state, creating a small network.

If anyone wins the progressive jackpot, then the machines are reset, and the jackpot build begins all over again. This is easily the most attractive and accessible game that draws people towards it. Undeterred by the fact that the chances of winning a jackpot are the same as winning a lottery, thousands across the world continue to play for it by the hour in the hope that they’ll win.