Who doesn’t love progressive jackpot slots? Jackpots casino gaming can be some of the most rewarding and entertaining experiences any online casino can offer. At the same time, you need to keep a cool head when chasing these online casino jackpot wins, as the ones that reach millions don’t come around often. Progressive slot jackpots are not only player favourites but also produced by any game company popular enough to field them.

Before you get started with your deposits and your chosen online casino, take a look at what you need to know about casino jackpots. We’ve gathered all the necessary information here to get you started with that edge that you need to score the win before someone else does.

Progressive Jackpot Slots

Jackpots themselves are probably as old an invention as gambling itself. The word itself can be taken to mean the main win of the game. Yet the jackpots you find in casino games do have massive differences. For the purpose of this casino jackpot article the word is going to refer to wins that are especially large, and not just any normal top win you can score from any online slot.

One of the main reasons jackpots have grown in popularity is online casinos themselves. In fact, modern progressive jackpot slots wouldn’t even be a possibility in normal land-based casinos. Online games simply reach a far larger audience, and hence grow much faster and into far higher sums. They are one of the most popular types of games available, and often shine in many areas even without the possibility of scoring a massive jackpot win. 

Jackpot Casinos

Some online casinos have more jackpots to offer than others. There are a handful of progressive jackpot slots that you can find almost anywhere, but the total cast of jackpot slots covers hundreds of games. And you can find a handful of online casinos on our list that try to offer each and every one of them for your enjoyment. If this is something that you’re after you might enjoy looking into Jackpot City casino NZ. 

Another consideration are local jackpots. Not all jackpots are shared across all networks, and although these are not the biggest progressive online jackpots out there, they can still grow into considerable sums at the right jackpot casino.

The Best Progressive Jackpots

The best progressive jackpot slots can be determined on two factors: how the game itself is and how big the pots get. It’s no surprise that the biggest casino jackpot games come from developers that are extremely popular. Such as Net Entertainment or Microgaming. With these games, the casino jackpots can reach millions, even tens of millions, as they have consistently done in the past.

Yet, you also have to consider the fact that it’s quite hard to score such big wins. And for this, there are large amounts of smaller casino jackpots. In fact, most of the time the progressive jackpot slots come with several tiers ranging from mini to mega. The bonus features can also yield massive wins by themselves.

The games themselves have to come with attractive basic wins, as those are the ones you’ll be landing most of the time. They need to look and sound good, and the theme and special features all have to work together in a fun and entertaining manner. And there are quite a few progressive jackpot slots that fit the bill. As an added bit of fun, we suggest trying both high variance online slots and low variance online slots for a change of pace.

Most Popular Online Jackpots

There’s a list of online jackpots that have not only gained massive popularity amongst all casino players but also retained that popularity from one year to the next. Some of these games have spawned a series of linked jackpots, whilst others have been continuously reworked to keep up with the times. Some of our favourite progressive jackpots online include the following:

• Mega Moolah from Microgaming
• Mega Fortune from Net Entertainment
• Gladiator Jackpot from Playtech
• Hall of Gods from Net Entertainment
• Age of the Gods series from Playtech

How a Progressive Jackpot Works

The system behind a progressive jackpot is a simple one, though there are some variations to the rules and methods. The basic idea is that from every bet placed on the online slot a certain percentage will be added to the jackpot. There might be several such jackpots, and the sum is usually divided between these. Do notice that this doesn’t affect the value of your bet one bit. Your one New Zealand dollar spins is still going to be worth exactly the same. It’s just that some of the money will be automatically routed to the progressive jackpots.

This all comes with the slight downside that progressive jackpot RTPs are slightly lower than what is the norm with online slots. This difference isn’t considerable and is often minimised the larger the popularity of the game is.

Casino Jackpot Seed

You are sure to run into this term should you ever read terms and conditions or rules. The seed sum is basically the minimum level each progressive jackpot can have. This comes to play whenever someone wins the jackpot. They get to cash out all the wins, and the jackpot is seeded afresh. This isn’t necessarily always the same sum, though often there is a minimum sum. The seed sum can increase with each bet played, just like the progressive jackpot itself.

Progressive Jackpot Networks

At the core of any progressive jackpot slot is the software developer who has built it. And even more specifically, their network. This network connects each and every played game to the same jackpot. This means that players are not playing to win individual pots, instead, these pots are all shared across all casinos that offer them, and all players that play them.

So if you play a progressive jackpot like Mega Moolah a portion of your bet is added to the progressive jackpot. The same applies to anyone who plays Mega Moolah at any other online casino.

Not only this, but several different online slots can share the same jackpot pools. An excellent example of this is the Age of Gods online slots from Playtech. Furthermore, some slot producers can choose to add their jackpots to all of their games. Red Tiger Gaming for example has created special rapid, daily and hourly progressive jackpots that can be won by playing any of their games.

The Chance to Win a Progressive Jackpot

It is obviously an entirely random chance. Progressive jackpots in online slots tend to be an extra bonus feature, one that has a very small chance of firing on each and every round played. Generally, this chance is equal for all bets and players. But some online slots do increase the chance of launching the feature for larger bets. On the other hand, this increase is never by no means considerable, so you’re just as well off playing with smaller bets.

Once you do get to the progressive jackpot bonus, there are still ways to go before claiming the biggest pot of them all. Most of these jackpot bonus games come with several levels, which can start with wins that are in the double digits, increasing progressively into live-changing amounts. Most often any such bonus win is worth its while, but it’s quite a long road to the biggest one of them all.

Fixed Casino Jackpots

There’s another type of online slot jackpot, which behaves quite differently from progressive online slots. These are called fixed jackpots. And the fixed simply means that the jackpot wins are always the same size. They do not increase over time, nor do they decrease to some basic level when a jackpot is won. However, they do change in relation to your bet. This is simply put an easy way to add another level of wins on top of the paytable wins.

Other Casino Jackpots

Online slots are not the only games to enjoy jackpots. Bingo games basically always have a jackpot, collected from all the bingo tickets bought for the games. Poker games can have a bad beat jackpot. This is an interesting variation, as instead of winning it with the best possible luck, it can be won with a bit of bad luck. Simply put, if you have a superb hand but your opponent has an even better hand, you can get your hands on the bad beat jackpot.

Must-Drop Jackpots

Progressive online slots have been around for quite some time now, and they’ve always played quite the same way. There is a small chance that any real money round can trigger the jackpot bonus, and a chance likewise small that such a bonus round will lead to the biggest win possible. Technically, the more rounds are played the more likely it is that a winning round emerges.

Must drop jackpots are a rather new innovation, one that changes the pattern. Instead of always having a small chance of winning, the jackpots are more and more likely to trigger when the conditions are filled. These conditions can be anything but are usually time-based. For example, a daily must drop jackpot will result in a jackpot win by the end of the day. This is simply programmed into the mathematics of it all. 

Biggest Ever Progressive Jackpot Wins

Two of the biggest ever progressive jackpot wins to rock the online casino world are from the same game: Mega Moolah. Both of these crossed over 30 million New Zealand Dollars. The third one on the list came from WowPot, reaching nearly the same numbers. The top ten, in turn, include more massive wins from Mega Moolah, with Mega Fortune competing superbly for top positions as well. The maximum wins from these games always seem to reach millions, and quite easily so. Even if the jackpot game in question is won on average every two or three months.

When The Payout Finally Hits

So what happens when you really do get lucky and hit the progressive jackpot? How are the millions paid out? This depends a bit on the online casino in question, but generally follows rules set out by the game provider itself. This is because the big jackpot wins, unlike normal slot wins, are not paid by the casino. Rather, the jackpot pool is operated by the game provider. This means that the payout comes through them. 

Organising all this might take time, and any such jackpot might be divided into monthly payments over a certain period of time. When it comes to the smaller jackpots and fixed jackpots the wins are usually paid by the online casino itself. On average, you should be receiving the winnings in short order. Even though casinos do have withdrawal limits, these are usually negotiable in these special situations. Be wary of any online casino that would suggest otherwise. Luckily, all our suggested NZ online casinos can offer the fastest withdrawals possible. And remember, all of these wins are tax free for New Zealand players!

Casino Jackpot FAQ

1. Which bet should I play progressive jackpots on?

Any bet you would normally use. If you’re really chasing the jackpot then the minimum bet is always the most useful, but this also means that any normal wins remain quite minimal from the normal slot mechanics.

2. Are progressive jackpots slots better than normal slots?

That depends on your own preference. Generally speaking, these games tend to have an RTP that is one or two per cent below the industry average. This is the money that is pooled into the progressive jackpots. On the whole, progressive jackpots are still also online slots, ones that are popular for a reason.

3. Are there any bonuses for progressive jackpots?

There are quite a few actually. Free spins as a deposit bonus can often be found for games like Mega Moolah. Check out our casino bonuses and online casinos to find out if any progressive jackpot free spins are currently available.

4. Are progressive jackpots available on mobile devices?

Good news, of course, they are. You can play pretty much all online slots on mobile devices. Whether that’s a smartphone, tablet or laptop is entirely up to you. You’re still certain to get access to all progressive jackpot online slots.

5. Does my bet size affect my chances of winning?

Yes and no. For some games, the size of the bet does increase the chance to win, albeit very marginally. This is always laid out in the rules. For the most popular online jackpots, the size of the bet tends to have no effect.