Online casinos have become incredibly popular over the past few decades, offering players the chance to win big from the comfort of their own homes. One of the most exciting features of online casinos is progressive jackpots, which grow to massive amounts before being won.
A progressive jackpot is a top prize that increases every time a player makes a wager on a particular game. A small percentage of each bet placed goes towards the growing jackpot amount. This creates enormous prize pools that sometimes reach the millions before being awarded. The jackpot continues growing until one lucky player hits the winning combination, at which point it resets to a predetermined seed amount and starts incrementally increasing again from there. Progressive jackpots are typically found on online slots and other casino games like video poker, blackjack, roulette, and more.
How do progressive jackpots grow so large?
Online casino networks fuel progressive jackpots with thousands of players. Each participating online casino contributes a portion of wagers to the same central progressive jackpot pool. So with each second that goes by, bets are made which cause the jackpot to tick steadily upwards. The more people contribute to the pool, the faster the jackpot grows. Popular progressive slot titles found across many casino games in canada see their top prizes easily reach the millions due to the sheer number of bets placed. Additionally, progressive jackpot pools usually do not have a cap, meaning there is no limit to how high they climb. It creates enormous anticipation around when unimaginable amounts will be won.
Types of progressive jackpots
There are a few main types of progressive jackpots that you may come across at online casinos:
- Standalone Progressives – This is a jackpot that is only attached to one particular game at an individual casino. It grows from the bets placed on just that title.
- In-House Progressives – These are jackpots spread across a selection of games at a single online casino. Any wagers on the eligible games contribute.
- Wide Area Progressives (WAP) – The largest progressive pools spread across games on a network of online casinos all owned by the same operator. Hundreds of casinos feed into one huge WAP.
- Hybrid Progressives – These combine standalone jackpots with shared network pools for massive payout potential. Part of each wager goes to the standalone pot, and part helps fuel the network WAP.
The more games and more casinos that are contributing, the higher the progressive jackpot climb. WAPs have the potential to pay out truly staggering amounts in the millions. Players also don’t have to bet max to win progressive jackpots, though doing so often gives the best chance. Any qualifying bet grants you a big prize. However, it’s important to note that with slots, all symbols in the combo still need to align, even if betting is minimal.
