How Does Progressive Slot Machines Work
By Bill Burton
Every slot player who has ever walked into a casino has probably had the fantasy of hitting The Big One, that life changing progressive jackpot that will put you on Easy Street for the restyour life. You imagine the thrill of lining up the winning symbols and dream about how you will spend all that money. Then reality kicks in and deep down you know that you have abetter chance of getting struck by lighting than you do hitting the big jackpot. Does this mean you should not play Progressive slot machines?
While the odds of hitting a life changing jackpot may be astronomical, you don’t have to avoid all progressive machines. As long as you know what to expect and have some realisticexpectations you can give them a shot. There are also some progressive machines that are better than others if you want to hit the jackpot. First let’s take a look at the basic ofprogressive machines.
The big progressive jackpot is made by taking a percentage of all the money played into the machine. This means that the jackpot continues to grow as more people play the machine until somebodyhits the winning symbols for the top award. Because a percentage of the coins played form the Progressive Jackpot, the actual paybackpercentage will be less on the other winning symbols and in some case the payback percentage on the Progressive machines will be less than other machines in the casino. This is true for themachines that offer the life changing jackpots. Not all progressive machines are the same. There are actually three different types of progressive machines.
The Stand Alone Progressive
The stand alone progressive machine is not linked to any other machines. Instead of having a fixed top jackpot it takes a percentage of the coins played and adds that to the award for thehighest winning combination .It has a meter on the front and shows you the jackpot. In most cases the payback is equal to the other machines of that denomination but it just distributeddifferently to give you a varying amount for the top prize. The progressive jackpots for the stand alone machines is much lower that the ones from machines that are linked together.
In-House or Local Area Progressives
These are a group of machines linked together and owned and operated by the casino. They may be just in a single casino or linked together with several properties if the gaming company ownsmore than one casino. The jackpots may not be the multi-million variety but they can be quite a substantial win in some casinos. They generally hit more often that the big wide areaProgressives.
Wide Area Progressives
These are the machines that offer the life changing jackpots. The machines are linked together from many unrelated casinos. These machines are operated by an independent operated rather than asingle gaming company. Slot maker IGT operates games such as MegaBucks, Quatermania, and others in many different States. The casino share in a percentage of the winnings but the operator ownsthe games. The Jackpots may be large but so are your chances of hitting the big prize. Because of the costs of linking the machine and the administrative costs to run these Area wide games, thepayback percentage on these machines is much lower than on other slots.
It’s alright to try your hand at the big progressive machines hoping that lady luck will shine on you but don’t make it the mainstay of your slot play. Instead set aside acertain percentage of your playing bankroll and use that for a shot at the big one. Winning one of these is pure luck and is a gamble along the lines of buying a lottery ticket. Don’tspend your entire bankroll chasing dream. If you want to play a progressive machine you might be better off to concentrate your efforts on the Stand Alones or In House Progressives. Your oddsare much better. Most importantly remember, playing slots is entertainment. Have Fun!
Until next time, remember:
Luck comes and goes...Knowledge Stays Forever!
Bill Burton is the Casino Gambling Columnist for the Internet portal About.com. His website is located at: http://casinogambling.about.com. He is the author of“1000 Best Casino Gambling Secrets” and “He is the author of "Get the Edge at Low Limit Texas Hold'em" available at www.billburton.com. He is aninstructor for Golden Touch Craps; www.goldentouchcraps.com. He also writes for several national gamblingpublications.
- How Does Progressive Slot Machines Work At Home
- How Does Progressive Slot Machines Work Without
- How Progressive Slot Machines Work
Progressive slots are slot machines for which the jackpot continues to grow. The jackpot is progressive, growing with each bet gamblers make. The final jackpot, which is only determined when someone wins, is taken from a percentage of all the bets played on a group of machines or a single slot machine. On a progressive slot machine, a person may win an award without getting the progressive jackpot. This is because progressive machines only pay out their maximum jackpot when someone hits on the particular winning symbols designated for the jackpot.
It's important to note that there are different types of progressive slots. A standalone machine is not linked to other slots; this type typically has a fixed jackpot, which is calculated from a percentage of all the bets made on that machine. Like other types of progressive slots, the jackpot gets higher with each amount bet. Usually, these machines have meters on the front that let the gambler know how much the progressive jackpot is currently. In most cases, standalone machines offer a lower payout than progressive machines that are linked together.
How Does Progressive Slot Machines Work At Home
The logic here is simple, most slot machines, whether they are fixed jackpot slots or progressive jackpot slots will require that you bet max if you are to pick up the best prizes. Always betting max means that you’ll always be in the position to reap the greatest possible rewards from any win, no matter how large or small. Slot machines work like this, you place your bet, spin the reels, and win an amount based on what the paytable shows. Progressive slot machines are different. They do have the paytable, but there is an additional jackpot that grows until a winner is chosen.
How Does Progressive Slot Machines Work Without
How Progressive Games Work The idea behind the progressive jackpot is simple. It starts out at a minimum level and as more wagers are played a little bit of each is allocated toward the jackpot. The jackpot will only be rewarded on a random basis when an extremely rare combination of factors occurs. 10 Secrets Casinos Don't Want You to Know. Subscribe for more amazing videos! Casinos are multi-million dollar busines.
In-house progressive machines are groups of slot machines that are linked together and operated by a particular casino. In some cases, however, progressive slots may be linked to machines that are not in one casino. Usually, this happens when one company owns more than one casino and decides to link its progressive slots together. These machines tend to offer big monetary awards and prizes, and they typically offer more impressive winnings than standalone machines.
How Progressive Slot Machines Work
There are also wide-area progressive slots; they are usually linked together but are not operated by just one casino or gaming company. Instead, these machines are linked to those in many different casinos, which may be owned by different companies. They tend to offer huge winnings; in fact, some of the jackpots listed on wide-area progressive machines are so large that a person who wins one could quit his job and lead an entirely different lifestyle. Though the awards on all of these progressive machines can be quite high, the odds of winning the prizes can be rather low. The odds of winning on one of these wide-area slots can be similar to those for winning a mega lottery ticket payout.