Progressive slot machines are, in essence, jackpot slots. The absence of a fixed maximum
payout sets them apart from classic slots. Find out the highest-paying jackpots on the
market and get up to date with the various progressive slots types.
7 Top-Ranked
Progressive Slot Machines
Rank Jackpot Slot Machine Current Rounded Value Where to Play
#1 Mega Moolah £10 million Slots Heaven #2 Book of Atem: WowPot £10 million Mega Casino
#3 Jackpot Giant £5 million Paddy Power Games #4 Mega Fortune £3 million Mr Green #5
Funky Fruits £2 million Mansion Casino #6 Arabian Nights £2 million Mr Spin #7 Major
Millions £1 million 32Red
How Do Progressive Slots Work?
The casino or game provider
furnishes ‘the seed’, an amount of money that represents the baseline jackpot value.
Each individual bet contributes to the general pot, following the relevant guidelines
for eligibility. When the jackpot feature is eventually triggered and paid out, it
resets back to the seed amount and the cycle restarts.
Progressive slots may offer you
more chances at the jackpot for a larger bet, a prime example being Mega Moolah. Still,
it would be best if you exercise caution. More chances do not equal an inevitable
outcome, and constantly hitting the max bet may deplete your bankroll too
quickly.
RNG-triggered jackpots
Slots are not created equal, although, under the hood,
they rely on similar RNG software to work. Triggering a jackpot prize depends on a
randomly generated number, but they all hit differently.
For instance, in Microgaming’s
Sisters of Oz, the jackpot consists of a bonus wheel mini-game. But in other slots, it
may depend on landing a specific symbol combination or picking the correct symbols on
the screen.
How Likely Are You to Win a Progressive Jackpot?
The odds of landing a
progressive jackpot are challenging to pinpoint precisely because so many variables
come into play, like the pot contribution rate, the number of slots linked on the same
network and so on.
However, we’re indeed talking about long odds. According to various
estimates, you have a better chance of winning the lottery, which doesn’t look so great
either.
Guessing 6 numbers out of 49 may happen once every 14 million tries. Still, in
the case of progressive slots, your chances start at around 1 in 50 million. So,
triggering a jackpot is almost 4x less likely than winning the lottery.
And winning the
lottery is 14x less likely than being struck by lightning, which you have a 1 in 1
million chance to live through.
Still, UK players may prefer the thrill associated with
such a high-risk game. If you’re among them, set realistic expectations for your
sessions.
The odds are stacked against you in jackpot games, so it’s better to limit
what you’re spending. Play like an expert and set a separate budget for jackpots.
Divide that between your favourite progressive slots.
The 5 largest online progressive
slot payouts
Jackpot Record payout Date Mega Moolah Mega €19,4 million April 27, 2024
Mega Moolah Mega €18,9 million September 28, 2024 Mega Moolah Mega €20 million January
30, 2024 WowPot Mega £15,1 million April 14, 2024 Mega Fortune Mega €17,8 million
January 20, 2013
Regular vs Progressive Jackpots
Jackpot slots are of two main
types:
Fixed jackpot slots
Progressive slots
Fixed jackpot slots
If we consider the
maximum possible payout, any slot game has its ‘jackpot’. However, fixed jackpot games
will only multiply your stake by a predetermined factor, up to the limit specified in
its technical sheet.
Suppose you’ve just completed the wagering requirements of your
Starburst bonus spins and now wonder what the game might return in an ideal scenario.
The highest prize you may hope for is 500x your stake.
Therefore, since the maximum bet
per spin is £100, the jackpot in Starburst is £100x 500 = £50,000.
The downside of
fixed payout slots is that, for a lower-valued jackpot, you may need to max out your
stake or be highly fortunate to trigger bonus rounds.
On the positive side, regular
jackpot slots provide a more consistent Return to Player rate. That may translate into
steadier returns and less of your bankroll wasted on dead spins.
Fixed jackpot slots
are also known as flat tops. Check out our classification on the different types of
slot machines and update your gambling vocabulary.
Must-hit-by jackpots
You might have
encountered the idea of mystery jackpots, but you didn’t know they were called
‘must-hit-by’ slots.
In a way, they’re halfway between the fixed and progressive types.
They increase in value only up to a certain point. Here’s how they work:
The pot is
‘seeded’. An algorithm picks a random point between the seed value and the maximum
jackpot. A player whose bet contributes up to that exact point triggers the
jackpot.
Progressive jackpots
As we’ve hinted, progressive slots have an open-ended
maximum payout, meaning the pot increases with each eligible spin. But how they
accumulate and pay the jackpot depends on whether it’s a local or wide-area
progressive.
Your bets must cross a specific threshold to contribute to the pot in some
progressive slots. If your bet per spin is lower than the accepted limit, it may not
qualify for the jackpot prize.
Local progressive slots
A local progressive is an
individual slot not connected to other machines but forming a network with others of
the same kind within the same casino. The overall pot only grows when UK players place
eligible bets at that casino.
Local progressive slots are also known as standalone or
in-house jackpots. It should also be noted that local networks have significantly
reduced jackpots compared to their global counterparts.
Global progressive
slots
So-called ‘wide area’ progressives connect one or several slot machines into a
global network spanning multiple online casinos.
Since a wide area progressive can
reach a global audience, its jackpot will be sensibly greater than what you’ll see in
an in-house game. At the same time, because it’s played at such a large scale, your
odds diminish greatly.
Two scenarios
We have two different scenarios here. First, a
progressive slot’s pot is shared among several casinos featuring that game. In that
case, players from all casinos participating in the network contribute to the pool.
The
second scenario is when multiple slots combine into the same jackpot network across
several casinos. Here, any of the qualified slots may trigger the pooled
jackpot.
Microgaming casinos UK combine into a well-known wide-area jackpot network.
Here, UK players and gamblers all over the globe get to play Mega Moolah and the
provider’s additional jackpot slots.
Multi-tiered jackpots
Software providers have
found a way to make progressive slots more appealing by adding lower-valued jackpot
prizes. Multi-tiered jackpots have become the norm, with most progressives offering up
to 4 jackpot levels.
Since they value less, the lower tiers are naturally triggered
more frequently, sometimes minutes apart. Conversely, more substantial prizes may drop
in weeks or even months.
Jackpot tiers in Mega Moolah
Mega Moolah jackpot tier Seed
value Mini £10 Minor £100 Major £10,000 Mega £1,000,000
Limited-time jackpots
Also
known as Daily Drops, limited-time jackpots work just like any other progressive slot,
except they payout by a predetermined time. They accumulate with each wager and are
guaranteed to be triggered by the chosen hour.
Daily jackpots reach low to medium
values, around £50,000. In rare cases, they may get up to double this figure.
Pick and
Play the Best Progressive Slot for You
Best online casinos are host to a wide variety
of progressive slots, so you might be tempted to pick the one with the largest jackpot.
However, be sure to consider the experts’ advice to optimise your progressive slot
gaming sessions:
Learn how to play casino slots in order to not lose recklessly at this
type of game. Experiment with slots no deposit first, as they usually have a higher
RTP. Thus, you increase your chances of small and moderate returns. Practice with the
daily free spin offers you may receive further, and only then progress to progressive
slots. Remember, the highest-paying jackpots are linked in global networks from trusted
software providers like Microgaming or NetEnt. Keep in mind that multi-million jackpots
are also the least likely to drop. You shouldn’t disregard local and daily jackpots
because they present a lower value. Create a weekly budget for jackpot slots and stick
with it. Aid your budgeting with responsible gambling self-limits.
Progressive Jackpot
Slots Providers
NetEnt jackpots
Slot name RTP % Seed value for top tier Mega Fortune
96% £250,000 Hall of Gods 95% £100,000 Arabian Nights 95% £30,000
The progressive
jackpots included in the game catalogues of Netent casino websites may seed at a lower
value. Still, they tend to offer high RTP games with several bonus features to
compensate.
Thus, your gaming session will not be restricted to waiting for the jackpot
to drop but will keep you engaged by other means.
Microgaming jackpot slots
Slot name
RTP % Seed value for top tier Mega Moolah 93.42% £1,000,000 Wow! Pot 92% £2,000,000
Major Millions 89.37% £250,000
Microgaming earned the Guinness World Record title for
the highest online jackpot ever paid in 2024. A 26-year-old soldier then triggered the
Mega Moolah Jackpot round.
The record stood until 2024, when an anonymous mobile player
triggered the Mega Jackpot again, turning her 75p bet into more than £15
million.
Novomatic progressive slot machines
Suppose you want to get a taste of both
local and network jackpot types. In that case, Novomatic casinos UK have all kinds of
progressive slots. To use the provider’s terminology, they have Standalone Progressives
(local jackpots) and Linked Progressives (pooled jackpots).a
Standalone
Progressives
Dancing Lantern
Book of Ra Mystic Fortunes
Dancing Tiger
PayDay – Prize of
the Nile
Pyramid Fortunes
Clover Power
We couldn’t find any information about the seed
value of Novomatic’s local jackpots on their official website. This may be related to
the multi-tiered nature of the slots.
However, you’ll be able to see the current pot
value by accessing the relevant game.
Linked Progressives
Star HIT Link – Born to
Gamble, Queen of the Night
Ultra Boost Link – Grand Eagle, Great American Buffalo,
Tiger Storm
Enchanted Fortunes Linked Jackpot – Book of Ra Mystic Fortunes, Goddess
Rising
Sizzling Link – Amber Party, Cats of Egypt
Lucky Twist Link – Lucky Twist
Matrix: Dynamite Dragon, Lucky Twist Wheel: Money Ki Neko
7 Progressive Slots Myths
Debunked
To further round off your mastery of progressive slot machines, we’ve selected
and debunked 7 of the most frequently uttered jackpot myths.
1. You can win a jackpot
with free spins
No, that is impossible. Free spins are not free in the absolute sense
since they imply wagering requirements. If casinos allowed winning jackpots with free
spins, they would give the entire jackpot amount from their pockets.
2. Slot machines
have hot and cold streaks
If progressive slot machines had had discernible hot and cold
streaks, they would not be mathematically random. That cannot be the case at a fair
casino, which must frequently audit its games’ RNG.
3. Slots are programmed to pay
according to a payout cycle
UK players may believe in payout cycles because they have
experienced what seemed to be cyclical winnings in slot machines. Again, that may only
happen by accident in an authentically random game.
4. You can figure out when a
progressive jackpot will hit
A fail-proof way to trigger a progressive jackpot goes
against its very definition. Nobody knows or can know when the big prize will drop.
5.
Progressive slots are better than regular slot machines
That depends on your
preference. Some would say they’re not necessarily better because the odds are poor,
while others would swear by their life-changing potential. Both categories of players
can find their favourite at the best UK slot sites.
6. Online jackpots are not as fair
as land-based casino slots
Playing at the best land-based casinos in England can
guarantee you a complete fairness of the jackpot slot results. However- you can be rest
assured as long as you play at a licensed online casino as well. The UKGC grants
jackpot fairness by imposing its licensees to analyse how their games operate
thoroughly.
7. You can only trigger jackpot slots by betting the maximum
The most
common misconception about progressive slots is that the max bet craze should be
dismissed ASAP.
There are indeed slots in which only betting the maximum will give you
a chance to win the progressive jackpot, but that’s just one type. Remember the recent
Mega Moolah winner? Their life-changing spin was not even £1.
Did you ever fall for
these jackpot misconceptions?
Or do you think some of them are not actually myths? Head
over to the comment section below and let’s have a debate!
