The Different Types of Jackpot Slots
First of all, let’s begin with the basics. For example, many new online casino players might want to know how a jackpot slot differs from a classic slot or a video slot. Well, to put it simply, the games themselves are the same, as a jackpot slot is either a classic slot or a video slot at its core. The difference is found in the payout you can get from a spin.
Regular slots have a fixed maximum payout when you land the right combination of high-paying symbols and bonus round features. On the flip side, the massive prizes offered by jackpot slots can often fluctuate or grow continuously until someone wins the whole lot. And as we’ll see, multi-million prizes can sometimes be won from a single spin, which is part of the attraction.
Jackpot slots steal the headlines on a fairly regular basis. For example, back in 2018, one very lucky punter (who wished to remain anonymous) managed to win a grand total of more than €18.9 million by playing Microgaming’s Mega Moolah from an Android mobile device. In fact, it later turned out that this world record amount was won from a spin of just €0.75. How amazing is that?!
However, Mega Moolah is just one type of jackpot slot – a progressive one, in this case. Now that we know a bit more, we really should explore the different types. Another fun fact: in 2021, a win of €19,430,723.60 on the Mega Moolah Absolootly Mad slot overtook the throne as the biggest online casino jackpot ever hit.
Progressive Jackpots
Some of the biggest prizes in the iGaming world come from progressive jackpot slots such as Mega Moolah, as we saw with that world record earlier. A jackpot can grow into the millions because online progressive jackpot slots take contributions from every bet placed in the game. That’s how the jackpot continually grows the prize pool until one very lucky son of a gun wins the whole lot in one go.
When you’re playing a game with a progressive slot, a certain percentage of your bet is added into the jackpot. If the game has multiple progressive jackpots, the largest part is added into the big jackpot, usually called Mega Jackpot, and a smaller portion is added into the lesser jackpots offered in the game.
Once a jackpot is won by a lucky player, the jackpot will reset. However, it won’t start from zero because a tiny part of each jackpot contribution is set aside for the next jackpot. Basically, the bigger the last jackpot was when it was triggered, the bigger the next one will be when it starts again.
To use the example of Mega Moolah again: when the big win of almost £16 million hit, the next jackpot that started up was at almost £5 million already. This is about £4 more than what Microgaming offers as the minimum starting point of this jackpots. Because yes, if a jackpot triggers early so that the next jackpot hasn’t gotten very big yet, the game provider adds in funds to still make the jackpot lucrative. In other words, if you trigger the Mega Jackpot in any of the Mega Moolah games, you’ll be able to call yourself a millionaire.
Global Network Jackpots
The biggest jackpots found at online casinos are found in slots with a progressive network jackpot, meaning that all players who play the game, regardless of which casino they play at, will contribute towards the same jackpot. This is also commonly called a global progressive jackpot, since players from all over the world can contribute to the same prize pool.
With thousands upon thousands of players placing bets on a slot with a global progressive jackpot, the prize can reach an astronomical size. The jackpots grow quickly in the popular slots, as you can see from the real-time count on the jackpot. So you can see not only how much the jackpot is worth, but also how quickly it grows.
These are some of the progressive network jackpot slots you can play online, where the Mega Jackpots can reach millions upon millions of pounds:
- Mega Moolah
- Major Millions
- Mega Fortune
- Mega Fortune Dreams
- Hall of Gods
- Joker Millions
- Empire Fortune
The only downside is that these types of jackpots are notoriously hard to win as they don’t release that kind of cash very often. It can be several months before each big jackpot in a global progressive jackpot slot is triggered, so your chances of winning it are, unfortunately, slim indeed.
Local Progressive Jackpots
In addition to the global progressive jackpot slots, there are also local progressive jackpot slots. Whether it is global or local doesn’t have anything to do with where you are based or if other players are in close proximity to you. Instead, local jackpots are built from the players at one specific online casino or a group of casinos operated by the same iGaming company.
Local progressive jackpots won’t get as big as the global ones, simply because there aren’t as many players contributing to it. So these are smaller jackpots, although that is not to say that they are in any way giving you only small wins. The big jackpots in local jackpots can get well above £1 million. It can make you a millionaire, but perhaps not a multi-millionaire, so still, this is a prize worth having.
Here are some popular slots with a progressive local jackpot that you might want to try out:
- Divine Fortune
- Arabian Nights
- Mega Joker
- Super Lucky Frog
There is an up-side to the smaller jackpots in a local progressive jackpot, and that is that you have a greater chance of winning the top prize. Not only can the jackpot trigger more frequently, but you’re also more likely to win it as not as many other players are competing with you. At least, by simply doing the numbers, this is theoretically true.
Fixed Jackpots
As the name suggests, the prize pools offered by fixed jackpot slots do not change. They are, therefore, set at a predefined level. They won’t continue to rise and rise like progressive types of jackpots. A fixed jackpot is usually a coin prize. That means you win a certain amount of coins in the game, and your bet level then decides how much cash you win. Alternatively, you’ll see the jackpot prize change as you change the bet size within the game. Anything from 100x your bet to 10,000x your bet is common as a fixed prize jackpot.
Some jackpot slots also have a progressive jackpot as the main prize, and fixed jackpots as the lesser jackpots.
Here are some popular fixed prize jackpot slots you may want to try out:
- Jackpot 6000
- Divine Fortune (the two lesser jackpots)
- Aurora Wilds
- Wacky Races
- Jammin’ Jars
These kinds of games have several advantages over the other ones mentioned above. Chief among these is the fact that the top prize is won a little more often compared to a progressive jackpot. Also, knowing the top prize from the get-go prevents you from having to time when you play, as the total win will still be a good one regardless of whether the last one was won five minutes or five years ago.
Progressive Jackpot Slot Series
A progressive jackpot slot, global or local, is not always a stand-alone slot. It’s become increasingly popular among game providers to host the same jackpots in multiple games. That means that you can win a jackpot that not only players in that specific game have contributed towards, but that also players in multiple other slots have helped build up.
For example, the Mega Moolah jackpot can not only be won in the original Mega Moolah game. This game has several sister slots, where the game features and bonus rounds are all different, but the jackpots are the same. So if you play the Immortal Romance Mega Moolah slot, you can win a jackpot that has been collected by players in some 10+ other games that share the same jackpot. The same goes for the WowPot slots from the same game provider.
The examples above are easy, since all games with that specific jackpot have the same name, or the jackpot name is part of the game title. That way you know what jackpot you’re playing to win. Other games are a bit less clear. For example, the two slots Joker Millions and Empire Fortune from Yggdrasil are not obviously sister slots, but they do share the same jackpot.
Must-Drop Jackpots
In recent years, the concept of must-drop jackpots has become a big thing. These jackpots are great for players who are not interested in playing and playing on a slot where the jackpot never seems to drop. In global progressive jackpots, it can be months upon months between main jackpot drops, which might be frustrating. In contrast, in must-drop jackpots, the jackpot is guaranteed to drop at certain time intervals. Usually daily.
The first game provider that really hit it big with this concept was Red Tiger Gaming. They added a must-drop jackpot into several of their games, so these were in fact separate games that all got a shared jackpot prize added. Within the games, you could, and still can, see if the jackpot has dropped yet, or how long is left until it has to drop.
The benefit of a must-drop jackpot that will trigger daily is that your chances of winning it is the greatest you’ll get if you're playing for a progressive jackpot. However, since the jackpot has a maximum of 24 hours to build up, it will never be a gigantic win, even though these jackpots are usually of the global progressive kind.
Best Jackpot Slot Providers
Now that you have an understanding of how each of the main jackpot types work, let’s have a look at five of the best game providers of jackpot slots. This is in no way an exhaustive list but merely suggestions for some of the best entertainment available, each designed to give players an excellent introduction to the world of jackpot titles.
Microgaming
The world record for the largest online casino payout belongs to Microgaming. This provider is famous for producing some of the best jackpot slots in the business. In fact, the game Mega Moolah proved so popular that there are now several versions of it, all linked to the central progressive prize pool, so it can be won on either the original game or on one of the variations such as Mega Moolah Isis, Absolootly Mad, and Atlantean Treasures. Other ones to try include:
- Major Millions
- Mega Vault Millionaire
- Wheel of Wishes
- King Cashalot
- Cash Splash
NetEnt
One of the largest game providers on the planet, and a huge rival of Microgaming, NetEnt has produced several of its own jackpot releases. These include some excellent local, network, and progressive jackpots that have seen prizes reach tens of millions over the years. Some of the most well-known NetEnt jackpot releases in this area are:
- Mega Fortune
- Mega Fortune Dreams
- Hall of Gods
- Arabian Nights
- Divine Fortune
- Imperial Riches
Playtech
Another huge company that has been around for years and is often mentioned in the same breath as Microgaming and NetEnt is Playtech. Several online casinos even stock Playtech titles exclusively, so you can tell they are trusted within the industry. By far the best-known Playtech jackpot release is the Age of the Gods series, which features several versions:
- Norse Ways of Thunder
- King of the Underworld
- Glorious Griffin
Pragmatic Play
This provider has grown in prominence against the more popular studios mentioned above because of its excellent Drop & Wins releases which provide daily prizes and jackpots to players at multiple different casinos. In terms of the titles that you should check out for massive prizes, look for:
- Chilly Heat
- Diamond Strike
- Fire 88
Yggdrasil
A younger studio compared to the ones we’ve mentioned so far, Yggdrasil has made a name for itself with stunning animations and superb game mechanics. The provider has also dipped its collective toe into the jackpot world with releases such as:
- Ozwin’s Jackpots
- Joker Millions
- Empire Fortune
The Best Progressive Jackpot Slots
Most, but not all, online casinos have slots with progressive jackpots. The average number of slots is usually around twenty, but some casinos have hundreds. Usually, the big casinos have the best selection since they're the ones that can afford to pay out the winnings. However, the overall number of progressive slots is not the only thing you should look out for since the particular games a casino actually offers is even more important. The following are some of the biggest and best progressive online jackpot slots.
Mega Moolah
Microgaming’s Mega Moolah jackpot game is triggered randomly, and when it’s triggered, you’re guaranteed to win one of the game’s four progressive jackpots, of which the Mega Jackpot is the biggest. The jackpot can easily reach more than 10 million pounds, and it usually tops the list of the biggest jackpots you can win at online casinos.
Mega Fortune Dreams
The Mega Fortune Dreams slot from NetEnt offers a jackpot that may not be far behind Mega Moolah’s prize. All three progressive jackpots are placed in a wheel of fortune, which you enter if you line up three bonus symbols on a payline. If you manage to spin your way into the centre of the wheel, you’ll trigger the Mega Jackpot.
Joker Millions
Yggdrasil also has some big global jackpots, and one of the best is Joker Millions. The aim is to fill the entire screen with joker symbols because you’ll need 15 of them to trigger the jackpot. This jackpot is not quite as big as the ones we just mentioned, but it has still reached close to 8 million euros before, so it could quite possibly grow that big again.
How to Win a Progressive Jackpot
You’ll have to be more than a little lucky to win a big global progressive jackpot because the chances of that happening are minuscule. However, someone has to win it, so it could be you. There are no surefire ways of ensuring that you’ll actually win a jackpot, but there are a few tricks that could help you. Here are two of the tricks you should keep in mind when betting on a progressive jackpot:
- Bet high – It’s not necessary to bet the maximum bet on the slot to be able to win a jackpot, but a bigger bet is more likely to trigger the jackpot than a smaller one. A bigger bet contributes more to the jackpot, and that’s why your chances of winning will increase.
- Play at the right time – A jackpot will trigger at some point, and the bigger it gets, the better the chances are that it will be triggered soon. Choosing to play when the jackpot is bigger than normal is, therefore, always smart. However, the size that the jackpot can reach will depend on the slot, so you should make sure you know how big each jackpot usually gets before you start to play.
The jackpot slot you choose is also important. The big global jackpots are, needless to say, not easy to win, simply because they don’t trigger that often. They can go for months before they finally pay out, which is also why they get so big. Your chances of winning the jackpot on a slot with a regular, smaller jackpot may be higher. The game provider Red Tiger Gaming offers slots with a pooled jackpot that is guaranteed to pay out once a day! You won’t win millions, but you can still win a substantial amount.
Play Jackpot Slots for Free
If you want to play some jackpot slots for free, then all you’ll have to do is sign up at a casino, verify your age (done automatically as you register for an account), and head over to the jackpot section of the casino lobby. There you’ll find online casino slots that you can play in demo mode, which basically means you’re playing for fun with play money.
However, even though you’ll be able to play most jackpot slots for free, there are some that won’t allow for play in fun mode. Those slots can only be played with real money, so you won’t be able to play for free.
Also note that triggering a progressive jackpot isn’t possible in demo mode, as you’d have to contribute towards the jackpot for that to be possible. You can still enter the jackpot game round so you can see how it works, if the jackpot game round has other fixed prizes to be won.
Play Jackpot Slots With a Casino Bonus
Playing with an active casino bonus on your account is usually a great option for players wanting to play slots with an extended bankroll. But if you’re looking to win a progressive jackpot, taking part in a casino bonus might not be the right choice. Many casinos prohibit players from playing progressive jackpot slots with a bonus balance, so that can only be done with real money.
You can’t play progressive jackpot slots with bonus money because you can’t win the jackpot. Bonus money isn’t actually real money, in the true sense of the casino’s interpretation of real money, and thus you’re not contributing to the jackpot with real money. And if you don’t, then you’re not eligible to win the jackpot.
Then again, some casinos do allow you to play on a progressive jackpot slot with bonus money, even though you can’t win the top prize. You can, however, win the lesser prizes in the slot, as in the ones you get from normal payline wins and from any other bonus features the slot might have, other than the progressive jackpot.
Jackpot Slots – Conclusion
There’s a reason why these types of online casino slots have become so popular all over the world. They each contain a dream of a better future, and a little luck can see a tiny amount of money turn into something truly life-changing. You can find plenty of jackpot slots reviewed right here at GoodLuckMate. Once you’ve found the one you want to play, have a read through our extensive online casino reviews and click our welcome bonus banners featured on top lists to get the latest and greatest deals available. Taking up one of these fantastic offers might give you a fighting chance of winning the big one and screaming with delight. Good luck!
