What Are Progressive Jackpots?

Progressive jackpot slots are similar to regular pokies except that the designers of the pokies have added progressive jackpots to them as a drawcard feature. For many pokies fans, progressive jackpot slots represent the ultimate thrill in online casino gaming, with thousands of always-hot slots with progressive jackpots available online 24 hours a day.

If you’ve been playing regular pokies online and want to spice things up a bit or take your pokie playing up a notch or two, this guide to progressive jackpot slots is just the ticket. Read on to find out how progressive jackpot slots work, where to find them, and how you can make the most out of them right after reading this guide.

Essentially, progressive jackpot pokies are similar to regular pokies in terms of basic structure, such as the number of reels, special game symbols and bonus rounds. However, the big difference between a standard pokie and even a pokie with a fixed jackpot is that with a progressive jackpot, the amount of money you could win does not stop growing until someone manages to trigger the progressive jackpot. After that, the progressive jackpot counter starts again, usually from a minimum amount (not usually zero). 

Microgaming was the first software developer to create online pokies containing a progressive jackpot component. Their now iconic Mega Moolah broke new ground and helped to put online casinos in the collective consciousness of the general public.

To this day, Mega Moolah is considered one of the best slots with progressive jackpots of all time and has made countless instant millionaires worldwide. Playtech is also highly esteemed, and their Age of the Gods progressive jackpot series is well worth playing.

Progressive jackpots work by taking a small percentage of each player’s bet and adding it to the overall jackpot. This process of continually adding a percentage of each wager to the total jackpot makes it a progressive jackpot that continues to progress in total value. 

One of the most attractive features of slots with progressive jackpots is that the progressive jackpot can be triggered at any time. Unlike regular online pokies or pokies with a fixed jackpot that can only be accessed once the special bonus round has been triggered, progressive jackpots are triggered randomly. 

Slots with progressive jackpots like Mega Moolah and NetEnt’s Divine Fortune don’t just feature a single progressive jackpot. On the contrary, playing these types of progressive online slots allows you to win one of three or four progressive jackpots.

Mega Moolah:

• Mini progressive jackpot
• Minor progressive jackpot
• Major progressive jackpot
• Mega progressive jackpot

Divine Fortune:

• Minor progressive jackpot
• Major progressive jackpot
• Mega progressive jackpot

Progressive jackpot slots themselves are organised into different sub-categories that relate to how their progressive jackpots are funded, which in turn determines their progressive jackpot payout potential:

Standalone Progressives

As the name suggests, this progressive jackpot is only available at a single pokie within the entire online casino. The standalone progressive is not linked in any way to other progressive slots.

Local Progressive Jackpots

Local progressive jackpots, also known as in-house progressive jackpots, are essentially a group of slots connected together in a single casino. These might all be from the same software provider, and playing any of them will give you access to the local progressive jackpot.

Global Progressive Jackpots

Global progressive jackpots, also known as network progressive jackpots, are the largest type of progressive jackpot category and offer the highest potential progressive jackpot. These progressive jackpots are linked across many online casinos across the globe, progressive jackpots like Mega Moolah are a great example of global progressive jackpots. It’s usually much more challenging to trigger the main progressive jackpot, but the payout potential is generally massive.