How to Play Progressive Slots

Whether you’re new to online slot machines or a seasoned pro, progressive slots are some of the most popular around.

Progressive slot machines are known for their jackpots that keep increasing every time somebody plays a slot game.

Find out how progressive slots work, how often progressive jackpots hit and some of the most popular progressive slots at PokerStars Casino.  

What are progressive slot machines? 

Progressive slots get their name from their ever-progressing jackpot. Unlike some slots, the prize isn’t fixed and progresses with every bet made, until it’s won. When this happens, the jackpot resets to a seed amount and the process starts all over again. These slots can be found in physical casinos as well as online casinos and boast epic jackpots, which could be into the millions! 

Progressive slot machine meaning:  

A casino slot machine which features a progressive jackpot – a cash prize that gets bigger every time someone places a real money wager, and the jackpot isn’t won. A small share of each wager is added to the jackpot, and the jackpot size is usually displayed in real time, so players can see it rise. When the jackpot is won, it is reset to a pre-determined minimum amount called a seed. 

How do progressive slots work?

You’re probably wondering just how these jackpots get so big? Let us explain. When a player makes a wager on a progressive jackpot slot machine, a percentage of their wager goes into the jackpot prize pool.

But what about the other percentage that isn’t contributing to the jackpot? Simply put – and it’s probably obvious but we want you to have all the info – goes towards smaller, regular wins and the casino’s revenue.

Every spin, by every player will make the jackpot grow. If you consider hundreds of online casinos and millions of players playing the same game, you can quickly understand how the prize jackpot soars.   

Once the jackpot is eventually hit, it resets to its base amount, and the process continues, spin by spin. But how do you win a progressive slot? There are a few options, with players usually having to do one of the following:

Land a specific symbol combination: for example, you might need to hit five cherry symbols or the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5; each machine will have its own ‘key’ to unlock the end game.

Trigger a random jackpot event: basically, whenever the progressive slot machine feels like, it can pay out – hit five red fruits? Sure, let’s payout.

Bet the maximum amount: some progressive slot machines require you to bet the maximum amount per turn to even be in with a chance of unlocking the jackpot. Others, although not as cynical as the must-play-the-max-bet slots, have a greater chance of hitting the big jackpot when a maximum bet is played.

What types of progressive slots are there?

Progressive jackpots have evolved since their inception in the late 80s. What started out as single game jackpots have now morphed into jackpots that are funded across an entire network of casinos e.g., the more people that play, the bigger the jackpots and the more frequently they’re won.  

Let’s look at Buffalo Rising Megaways Jackpot below, this shows their 3 networked progressive jackpots and the rules. 

Here are some of the different types of progressive slots: 

Timed Jackpots

These progressive slots are guaranteed to be won within a certain timeframe or by a certain time of day. They are often daily, and usually have a large countdown timer showcasing that a player must win before it reaches zero.

Naturally, as the time left gets shorter without anyone unlocking the jackpot the desire to be the one in the seat intensifies.

The house never likes to lose, therefore, although you are playing something that guarantees a win every hour or every day, for example, the RTP (return to player) is often reduced by the casinos to accommodate them having to payout.

Game Jackpots

These slots have their own progressive prize, although they’re still funded from players across different online casinos.  

Tiered Jackpots

Progressive slots can feature tiered progressives within them, ranging from mini pots worth hundreds of pounds that are won every few minutes, to mega prizes worth thousands which are won every few weeks. This means you’re more likely to win something small whilst keeping the potential for the biggest jackpot win alive.  

Network Jackpots

Online casinos can now operate a network-wide jackpot system with their most popular games – this means that players can choose from over 30 different slots and still have the chance to win the same prize.  

How to play progressive slots

You’ve got to be in it to in it and if you already know how to play online slots, then you’re halfway there when it comes to progressive slots. Unlike traditional slots, progressive slots will have a jackpot meter which shows the current value of the progressive jackpot – you’ll be able to see this increase in value the more you play the slot.  

Progressive slots are a game of luck, however in some you may need to play the maximum bet with all the paylines in order to qualify for the progressive jackpot. Make sure you read over the rules for each game to ensure you qualify for the jackpot you’re trying to hit.  

How often do progressive jackpots hit?

This isn’t an easy one to answer, but you can look at a progressive jackpot a bit like an unsolvable maths puzzle. The slots jackpot can be a fixed probability event e.g., 1 in 70.6 million spins, total staked across all slots, a randomly selected time or jackpot size.  

For progressive jackpot slot odds where a life-changing amount of money is concerned, these can hit from one in 50 million to approximately one in 600 million. Feeling lucky?  

The type of jackpot on offer affects the frequency of the payout being hit, too. Standalone progressives will ring their bells and sound their whistles for the jackpot being unlocked the most frequently due to there being one slot machine contributing to the jackpot.

When it comes to local (in-house) progressive slot machines, they hit less frequently than the aforementioned standalone slots but more often than wide-area progressives. In addition, local slots jackpots tend to range from thousands to hundreds of thousands.

Wide-area progressive are where the players’ stakes are massively reduced due to the volume of people playing. Therefore, these hit very rarely (once every few months to a year) but often offer jackpots that go well into the seven-figure sums.

Best progressive jackpot slots

There’s a huge range of progressive jackpot slots on PokerStars Casino, whether you’re looking for something with a specific theme or not.  We’ve listed out 5 of our most popular progressive slots below, so you can get spinning.  

Diamond Stars

Immerse yourself in the Las Vegas experience in Diamond Stars, a classic game with a modern twist. Featuring massive multipliers and more neon than you can ever imagine.  

Stars Invaders

Launch yourself into an interstellar, extra-terrestrial experience with Stars Invaders, an out-of-this-world game that rockets classic one-armed bandit features into the far future of space. With a classic 3×3 layout, 5 paylines and massive multipliers, you won’t even mind if you get the ‘constellation’ prize.  

Sticky Fruits

Get your five a day with Sticky Fruits, filled with mouth-watering fruits and no less mouth-watering winnings. This slot is equip with a layout of four reels arranged in three rows and ten paylines.  

Tomb of Ra

Transport yourself back to Ancient Egypt in Tomb of Ra, this 5×5 slot is complete with special symbols including amulets, sarcophagi and jewels. With an RTP of 96.61% and a high volatility it’s no surprise that this is popular with many high rollers.  

Musketeers Heroic Spins PP 

Join the three musketeers in this 5×3 slot with 20 paylines that has 3 Free Spins features and 6 swashbuckling modifiers that are triggered from the base game. Porthos, Aramis and Athos will be waiting to welcome you to the team.  

Are Progressive Slots worth it?

Although the odds of your spin landing on a progressive jackpot are slim, they are won often. Just think about the millions of spins happening every week, and that 50 – 600 million counter soon starts adds up. The record for the biggest online progressive jackpot was won back in 2017, where a UK player won a cool £13.2 million on Mega Moolah.  

Even the smaller progressive jackpots (standalone and local, in-house) offer huge payouts compared to your regular casino slots.

There is Progress in Progressive Slots

In some progressive slots you don’t even need to hit the jackpot to secure a significant sum of money. These multiple levels of victory are known as: mini, minor, major and grand.

Looking at the RTP of a progressive slot, if you’re price conscious and prefer an immediate return, you should consider sticking to non-progressive slots.

Progressive slots usually have a lower payout percentage (88%-94%) compared to 96%-98% on regular slots. In addition, because a portion of each bet on a progressive slot goes towards bumping up the jackpot, the regular payouts are reduced to fulfil that need.

With those reduced odds, it is often argued that you’d be better off – or certainly no worse off in terms of odds – purchasing a lottery ticket than playing the slots. In addition, it feels a tad cheeky that some progressive slots require the maximum bet to be played to even begin to entertain the small chance of you unlocking the jackpot.

No one wants to be first after a jackpot win, either; the prize pot resets to the base amount (often a few thousand dollars), meaning early players get a smaller potential prize pot.