We all dream of that one big win that’s going to change our lives. The excitement of making the choice to sit down in front of a slot machine and push that spin button that might lead to the big jackpot has us players wanting to try our luck again and again.
Winning might seem like a dream far from coming true but despite the odds being small, it could happen to anyone at any time.
If you are looking for that one big win then playing on progressive jackpots is the way forward. They come with life-changing amounts that keep on growing. Why is this? When you as a pokies player place your bet on the progressive jackpot and no one wins, the amount increases up until someone takes it all the way home to their bank.
The growing amount in a progressive jackpot is also called a prize pool. Easier said than done, but all you need to do to win is to hit the magical pay line or become extremely lucky in a random prize draw.
The most common amount to win in progressive jackpots are around 1 million but with today’s modern online video slots, their progressive jackpots can go up to as high as multi-millions.
As progressive jackpots have such a life-changing opportunity for the online slots players, you would think that finding one would be hard. We can happily say, it’s not difficult at all to find pokies games that have progressive jackpots. The more difficult part is to find an online casino you want to stay with.
There are a tone of reputable online casinos out there, you simply need to do your research and play on the free versions to see if that’s an online casino that you’re happy to sign up with.
How Progressive Jackpots Work
As mentioned, it’s not a difficult task to find a progressive jackpot slot game but to qualify for one is harder. You must first become eligible to play for the progressive jackpot amount by becoming a slot player that bets higher amounts on the reels rather than lower. This means that only the majority of the maximum bet players will be qualified to play on the progressive jackpot rounds.
The progressive jackpots come to place through putting a little bit of the players bet into a pot that builds the more players come to play. The amount that gets put into the put changes depending on the online casino and on the progressive jackpot game. Normally, the amount would be around 1% of the stake that is reserved for the jackpot.
Some software developers that create the progressive jackpot games ‘seed’ their progressives which means that once a player has won the jackpot, the total will then ‘reset’.
To be able to win the progressive jackpot you need to hit a special pay line of specific symbols to trigger the winning amount. In some cases, a second bonus game is needed to play before anything can be won. In this case, you’ll probably have to spin ‘the wheel of fortune’ or play a matching game.
Progressive Jackpot Winners in 2019
2019 has been one of the luckiest years so far for the progressive jackpot players. These slot games have delivered this year like never before and we have software developers Microgaming to thank for that.
In the first 6 months of 2019, Microgaming’s progressive jackpot network paid out more than a million in wins. They paid out a staggering amount of €89,879,343 across 1,150,559 jackpot wins.
Eight lucky slot players took home big jackpot wins in eight-figures. Winning such amounts would give anyone a reason to celebrate. It also gave other players hope that one day, they would be the one to add an eight-figure amount into their bank.
These eight players amounts together became €43 million in winnings for Microgaming to pay out and they continue to pay out further amounts of €10,000 to 380 players.
January 30th in 2019 made history with a player that took home the biggest jackpot win of the year which also resulted in being the third-largest payout in Microgaming’s history. This humongous amount came to be €13,328,028.16 for this one very lucky player.
The amount was won on the famous slot game Mega Moolah which is infamous for having great payouts. Mega Moolah comes with 5 reels and 25 pay lines with an African theme that will send on the safari trip of your life.
More progressive jackpot winners came to become millionaires on the 5th and 6th of March when two players went from eating tinned beans on the weekend to dining like kings and queens in just a press of a spin.
The lucky player who won on the 5th of March took home the €11,546,388.15 jackpot whilst the player who won on the 6th of March took home €2,201,120.31.
That was not the end for Microgaming’s major jackpot wins in 2019 as on the 3rd of May a pokies player took home €5,430,849.65, another won €5,673,937.78 on the 23rd of May and on the 17th of June a player came home smiling with €3,034,204.84.
Keep in mind that players don’t get this large amounts paid out all in the win, the network pays out these amounts in lump sums.
Microgaming’s all-time favorite Mega Moolah still holds the Guinness World Records title for the ‘Largest Jackpot Payout in an Online Casino Slot Machine’ which happened last year on the 28th of September 2018 where the winning amount came to be €18,915,872.81.
Top 3 Progressive Jackpot Slots
Mega Moolah – There’s no denying that Mega Moolah is at the top of the list for being the most favorite progressive jackpot due to its regular payouts. The slot game has four different kinds of progressive jackpots that vary in sizes.
The different jackpot pots are Mini, Minor, Major, and Mega all start with a minimum jackpot of £1,000,000. Each progressive has its own jackpot amount to play for.
Beyond these life-changing wins, the pokies players can also grab the chance to win some free spins on the progressive jackpot game. You can win 15 free spins where all your winnings can be tripled. This way you can continue to play to win the progressive jackpot amount without having to spend your own real money.
Major Millions 5 Reel – Get ready for the ultimate jackpot boot camp on Major Millions 5 Reel. Here you have a progressive jackpot slot with a military theme where the blowing whistles will put your eye on the prize.
Major Millions 5 Reel emphasize on their wild symbols where your Major Millions Progressive symbol acts as a substitute for all the symbols on the reels except for the scatter symbols. The wild symbol comes with another surprise where all your wins are tripled.
If you manage to land 5 or more Major Millions Progressive symbols on your 15th pay line whilst playing on the maximum bet then you hit a home run and take home the big pot!
Cash Splash 5 Reel Drive – Get ready to splash some cash on this pokies games 5 reels. This is a very simple progressive jackpot as all you need to focus on is to land 5 or more matching symbols on your 15th pay line whilst playing on the maximum bet. When you manage to land this combination you’ll take home the jackpot you’ve always been waiting for.
Besides winning a fabulous amount on Cash Splash 5 Reel Drive, its own logo is the one that acts as a wild symbol and substitutes all other symbols that are sitting on your reels except for of course, the scatter symbol, who has a mind of its own.