How do progressive casino games work?

We’ve all heard through the grapevine about those huge win stories some lucky punter has managed to score either at a land-based casino or online site. But when we play it, never seems to make front page news. The best way to become the poster boy or girl for the winners paper is to head on over to the progressive jackpots yourself -the top dogs of online casino games.

Progressive jackpots are quite simply that – progressive. Each time a player places a bet on a progressive game, such as pokies, roulette, or a table game, a small percentage from the player’s wager is added to a larger jackpot pool to make it progressively larger. The jackpot can get so large that you might be made an instant millionaire given your luck.

As you will see in our guide on some of the best online casino progressive jackpots, the pool is shared amongst many different casinos so that you have players from all over the world adding to the one jackpot. Once the lucky player hits and wins the jackpot, the pool is reset once more.

Where to Play Progressive Casino Games

We recommend checking out some of our top recommended real money online casinos for to find some of the best progressive jackpots in both the quality of gaming and the size of the jackpots.

• 7Sultans Casino
• Royal Vegas Casino
• Casino-Mate
• G’Day Casino
• Guts Casino
• Thrills Casino

Progressive games, ranging from progressive pokies, blackjack, roulette, keno and more, can be accessed on your smartphone, tablet or computer and each Web casino only takes a few minutes to register for an account on any of these leading casino websites.

Once you have decided on an online casino, pick a progressive jackpot game which you are most attracted to. Some casinos only offer progressive jackpots for pokies while other online casinos offer roulette and blackjack progressive jackpots -so be sure to shop around if you’re after the latter.

The games follow the same instructions as their non-progressive buddies with the same rules, guides, payment methods, and betting schemes applied. The only difference is the total of prize money to be won. So the more cash spent by players around the world the bigger the jackpot which you can win.

We have compiled some of the best progressive jackpot games for you to check out. Obviously these type of games are only available to those who play for real money and not those in practice mode so if you want to polish up your skills, choose a non-progressive counterpart and play in practice mode. When you’re ready for the big leagues head on over to the progressive games you will locate easily on your chosen online casino home page.

The Microgaming Network and Progressive Casino Games

Some of our favourite and highly recommended online casinos, such as Royal Vegas, 7Sultans and Leo Vegas, are all powered by Microgaming, the top casino game developer in the industry since the 1990s. The software provider is extremely popular due to its proven reliable nature and, in terms of the progressive jackpot games, it was the first to provide the service to online casinos.

By utilising our recommended online casinos we have put together some of the best and extremely lucrative progressive jackpot games powered by Microgaming and who knows, test these out and you could become front page news.

• Mega Moolah

  Staying true to its name, this online progressive pokies game is one of the biggest of it’s kind, making a few out there instant millionaires. The Mega jackpot starts at $1,000,000 and you can win the jackpot for as little as 25 cents per spin.

  This Mega Moolah legend began when a hefty $5.5 million was won in 2008 -the biggest online casino win ever at the time making it understandable why progressives popularity have grown extensively.

  Mega Moolah was also the first progressive jackpot to offer tiered jackpots. This means that even if you miss out on the main prize pool there are three other backup jackpots to be won, one of which pays out on an hourly basis so your odds are looking favourable.

• King Cashalot

  What King Cashalot lacks in graphics it makes up for in its huge jackpot offerings and ease of play.

  Just nine lines are in play and the prize starts off at $100,000. If you bet the maximum, which is $2.25 per spin, then you’re in a position to win it all and there’s not even a bonus round required. All it takes is to pull out five King Cashalot symbols in a row on the ninth win line and with an average win of over half a million dollars it’s definitely worth giving it a go.

• Roulette Royale

  While pokies are the traditional progressive jackpot games due to their exciting nature, other online casino games have been modified so we can win big. So branch out from the usual progressive pokies and play Roulette Royale -Roulette with a twist. A normal game of European Roulette is embedded with a progressive jackpot that accumulates with every spin of the wheel.

  This twist on an established classic, thanks to Microgaming, and while the implementation of the progressive action is just set up as a side bet to the wheel there is still an added thrill to the standard roulette game. Every player who makes use of the side bet contributes to the pool and the jackpot is won when the ball lands on the same number five times in a row.

  Although this may seem unlikely, the side bet is definitely worth the play as there are also pay outs for the same number twice, three times and four times in a row to make it worthwhile. The fact that the occurrence is so rare definitely makes the prize worth winning, with hundreds of thousands of dollars for the taking.

  For those of you that prefer your table action card based, there is also a progressive blackjack game at Royal Vegas called Triple Sevens Blackjack.

Other Recommended Online Casinos

While the Microgaming range is outstanding, in recent years companies like BetSoft, NetEnt and IGT have thrown down the gauntlet to their big brother.

• Guts Casino Progressive Games

  Guts hosts a range of Jackpot pokies titles from different software providers including Microgaming, NetEnt, BetSoft and IGT. So while Guts has the classic Microgaming progressive jackpot titles as mentioned above, it also offers others provided by NetEntertainment such as Arabian Nights, with the jackpot starting at $100,000; Hall of Gods, with a theme based on Norse mythology, paying out some of the biggest jackpots online including an AU$10,826,852 win in April 2013; and Mega Fortune the progressive pokie game holding the world record for the biggest online jackpot having paid out a massive AU$26,302,519 jackpot in 2013.

  Guts casino also has a keno progressive jackpot called Bonus Keno Jackpot where the numbers drawn make up the Jackpot symbol, to shape the letter J in ten sports. If you have placed the highest bet (which is 5 in this game) you win 100% of the jackpot. The percentage of the jackpot you are eligible to win will drop as the bet level does. You have a chance to take home either 80%, 60%, 40% or 20% depending on the bet level.

• G’Day Casino’s Progressives

  G’Day’s entire library of casino software – from renowned casino game developers like BetSoft, Net Ent and NYX Gaming – are all available in the no download, Instant Play format. G’day offers Arabian Nights, Mega Fortune all Hall of Gods, as well as Go Bananas and other interesting titles. Because every game is playable via your Web browser, there’s no need to install software or worry about compatibility issues with your operating system or device.

When Do Progressive Jackpots Go Off?

Some online casinos have indicators on their progressive jackpot games, letting players know when a big hit is on its way. Unfortunately, they aren’t a guaranteed indicator of when the jackpot will go off.

Every hit of the pokies, spin of that roulette wheel or hand of cards have the same chances to win big. Any of us can win the progressive jackpot at any stage – regardless of how long the prize pool has been building up for or how high it is since the last win. A progressive jackpot can even be won twice on consecutive spins for the luckiest players among us.

However, the reason that it is a good idea to note the average win size and time between wins is because it helps you identify the games with the best chances, even if this information doesn’t shed light on when a jackpot is due. Generally, a progressive game with a larger jackpot offers better chances to the player and has less of a house edge.

Chasing a progressive jackpot

Some online casinos offer progressive games with multiple jackpots as mentioned above. So if you want to be shown the money check out the ‘major’ and ‘minor’ top prizes, alongside the main jackpot. Because the smaller jackpots are hit more often, for smaller amounts, your odds are increased and you are much more likely to win. You’re odds are also favourable on a jackpot designed to usually pay out a few thousand dollars rather than one meant to award millions once every few months.

But at the end of the day, your odds don’t change as the progressive jackpots do not take into account the size when they award it -they just have a very small chance of awarding the jackpot on every spin. So if you see an especially large jackpot, you’re just as likely to win that as you would be the day after it was hit so it’s worth having a go.

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