Jackpot slots bring something special to the table that adds another layer of excitement and anticipation, and that’s the chance to land a life-changing sum of money. Whether it’s a modest fixed-jackpot win or a multi-million score on a progressive, just a single spin could turn your world upside down, but in the best way.

Today, we’re looking at how jackpot slots work, the different types available to play and how you can pick the best one based on your play style.

What is a Jackpot?

In most cases, a jackpot is the biggest possible standalone amount that you can land on a video slot. More than that, they’re usually the biggest payouts of any other on the paytable by quite some distance. Nothing else comes close.

There are two types that you’ll come across at an online casino. There are fixed jackpots that are a static amount that never changes, or there are progressives, which continue to grow with each spin that is played out. On the latter, they can grow to monumental amounts, even up to eight figures in some instances.

Types of Jackpot Slots

As well as the two types mentioned above, there’s also a variety of different progressive jackpots. These essentially do the same thing, but the difference comes in how the jackpots are created and who can win them.

Let’s take a look at each of them and break them down:

Fixed Jackpot Slots

If you’ve played a Hold & Win slot, you’ve probably come across fixed jackpots before. These allow you to win ‘set’ prizes that will never change, no matter how many players have played the slot.

Typically, they’re smaller than their progressive counterparts, but with that comes more regular payouts. While you can sometimes wait months and even years for a progressive jackpot to pay, the fixed type is being won all the time. They won’t turn you into a multi-millionaire, but they can often be worth anywhere up to 10,000x the size of the bet.

We should also point out that slots can feature more than just one fixed jackpot. It’s not uncommon to find games with three or four, such as the Mini, Minor, Major and Grand.

Standalone Progressive Jackpot Slots

A standalone progressive jackpot is tied to a single slot, unlike wide-area alternatives that are tied to a series of games on a network. Only bets on this specific title will incrementally increase the jackpot.

Those wagers could be placed at any casino where the slot is featured, and they will contribute to the total sum. It continues to increase until one player somewhere hits the spin of a lifetime to win everything in the pot. At that point, the jackpot is reset back to its base seed, which can vary depending on the title.

Wide-Area Progressive Slots (Networked Jackpots)

Arguably, the most well-known progressive jackpots are those that have a shared pool tied to a series of games. They’re different games, but all contribute a percentage of their bets to the pool, and all can trigger a jackpot win. Again, once won, it resets back to a base level that could be thousands or even millions, depending on the network.

Local Progressive Slots

These work similarly but are networked jackpots on a single platform. For instance, a casino might want to have its own progressive jackpot that only its players can win. Usually, these are tied to a series of slots, sometimes even hand-picked by the casino. While these often just have regular progressives that continue to grow until won, some casinos offer Must Win-style jackpots that are guaranteed to pay within a specific timeframe, whether that’s hourly, daily, weekly or monthly.

How Progressive Jackpots Work

On the face of it, how progressive jackpots work is quite simple:

A small percentage of every bet goes towards the progressive jackpot(s)
The size of the jackpot increases until it’s eventually won
It resets back to its base seed
The process starts over again

As for how the jackpots are triggered, this can vary from one slot or network to another. Some can trigger randomly on any pin, others may require a special symbol combination to hit the reels, while others can be triggered during a bonus round.

Random trigger: Any spin at any time could land a player the jackpot win. It simply comes down to RNG and being in the right place at the right time.

Symbol Combination: Another way jackpots are often won is when a special combo of a specific symbol lands on the reels. It could land across a payline, in a cluster, or in any position (pay anywhere), depending on the reel mechanic used.

Bonus Round: Some progressive networks trigger their wins through a slot’s main bonus feature. It could be during free spins, a Hold & Win-style game, or something else.

Multi-Jackpots: On slots with more than one progressive jackpot, a special bonus game is used to determine which one you win. For example, once it’s triggered, you’re taken to a game, which could be to pick tiles until you find three matching symbols for one of the jackpots. Whichever you match first is the jackpot you win.

What Are Common Misconceptions About Progressive Jackpots

There are misconceptions about most casino games and gambling in general, and that’s no different for progressive jackpots.

No, there’s no such thing as a hot machine or a jackpot that’s ready to go. Jackpots trigger randomly, with each spin just as likely as the next to stand a chance of paying out.
They’re not preconfigured to payout on a timer like some people think. They pay completely randomly. The only exception is must-win jackpots, but again, they could trigger at any time within a specific timeframe.
Spending more does not increase your chances of winning the jackpot. Whether you’ve played a couple of spins or hundreds, each has the same chance of triggering the jackpot.
No, they’re not rigged. The RNGs of progressive jackpot slots at regulated casinos are independently tested for fairness.

Choosing the Right Jackpot Slot for You

Everybody has their own preferences, so choosing which type of jackpot to play will come down to what’s yours. You might prefer smaller jackpots because there’s a greater chance to win, or maybe you’re the type who wants to hopefully land that life-changing win of all wins that is unlikely to happen again.

If you want the massive jackpots, then you’ll obviously want to play progressives. Generally, wide area networks generate the largest jackpots.
On the flip side, if small jackpots but increased odds are your thing, then go for fixed jackpot slots.
Standalone or local progressives usually offer something of a middle ground. They’re usually capable of growing into the hundreds of thousands or even as high as a couple of million.

Other considerations to think about before choosing a jackpot to play include the slot’s RTP. Most jackpot slots have a fairly low RTP (return-to-player) percentage of around 94% due to the small contribution of every stake that goes towards the jackpot. So they’re not great in that regard.

As for volatility, there are titles that payout smaller amounts frequently and others that typically pay bigger wins but rarely. Which style to go for depends on what you prefer. Neither has an impact on when the jackpot pays out.

Following that, there are just the regular considerations you’d make before picking any slot:

The min and max bets
The slot theme
What bonus features are there

Play Jackpots at mBitCasino

If you’re ready to get started on a few jackpot slots yourself, then make sure you check out our collection at mBitcasino. You’ll find fixed jackpots including Hold & Win games from Booming Games and Betsoft, and even progressives of the quality of Yggdrasil’s Holmes and the Stolen Stones and Play’n GO’s Beast of Wealth.

You can place real money spins that could hit the jackpot, or if you prefer, play the demo mode to get in some practice first.