Progressive Jackpots

Updated: September 27, 2026

If you have ever seen an advertisement for a casino offering huge amounts (often in the millions) as top payouts, you have probably seen games with a progressive jackpot. Read on to learn what a progressive jackpot is, how it works, the different types of progressives and where to find them.

What Are Progressive Jackpots?

Grand totals are offered as top payouts for certain casino games, and continue to increase until a player wins. They appear on a wide variety of games, but the most popular ones are associated with slot machines. They are exciting to watch. They usually range from thousands of dollars to millions of dollars. Progressive jackpot games are featured in both online and land-based casinos. In certain games, players can win big. Most progressive jackpot games require maximum bets to be eligible for the jackpot prize. So if you get the combination or hand necessary to win the progressive, but you haven't wagered the right amount, you could lose the progressive. This has to be one of the absolute worst feelings in your life, so make sure you fully understand the minimum wagering requirements to be eligible for the progressive and frequently wager at that level or above when playing on a progressive game. Always try to double check your bets. The most typical example is a video poker game with a progressive jackpot. On most machines, you must wager five coins to activate the top payout. So if you are playing a quarter video poker machine, the full bet with five coins would be $1.25 per hand. If you bet fewer coins than this and hit the top winning hand, you will only win the amount listed for your number of coins, not the progressive jackpot. If you don't feel comfortable betting that much, you may want to play for a lower number per coin. You may be able to play the similar video poker game in a nickel machine, making your bet .25 for a five coin bet. Some slot machines have the same capacity to play for a lower amount per line.

They tend to range from thousands of dollars to millions of dollars. Progressive jackpot games are available in both online and land-based casinos.

Most progressive jackpot games require a maximum bet to be eligible for the jackpot amount. So if you get the combination or hand required to win the progressive, but have not wagered the correct amount, you will not win the progressive.

This would have to be one of the absolute worst feelings in the world, so make sure you both understand the minimum wagering requirements to be eligible for the progressive and always wager at that level or higher when playing on a progressive game.

The most common example of this is a video poker game with a progressive jackpot. On most machines, you must bet five coins to unlock the top payout. So if you were playing a quarter video poker machine, the total bet for five coins would be $1.25 per hand.

If you bet less than this and hit the highest paying hand, you will only win the amount listed for your number of coins, not the progressive jackpot. If you are not comfortable betting that much, you should play for a lower amount per coin.

You may be able to play the same video poker game in a nickel machine, making your bet .25 for a five coin bet. Many slot machines have the same ability to play for a lower amount per line.

How Progressive Jackpots Work

Progressive jackpots build over time until a player wins them, then they reset to a predetermined level and start building again. The way they build is by taking a percentage of each bet made on the game that the progressive jackpot is associated with and adding it to the jackpot amount.

Here is a fictional example so you can see exactly how a progressive jackpot works. The example uses numbers that are easy to calculate for the purposes of this page. These numbers are not necessarily representative of a real progressive game, but are an accurate representation of the mechanics.

We will use a slot machine with an attached progressive jackpot as an example. The slot machine takes 10% of each wager and adds it to the progressive jackpot amount. After the jackpot is won, the amount is reset to $100,000. The reset amount is usually accumulated from contributions to the overall progressive jackpot.

In this example, 1% is used to fund the next reset amount and 9% goes directly to the progressive amount until $100,000 is accumulated in the reset account. Once the $100,000 has been accumulated, the entire 10% is used for the increasing jackpot. Another way this can be handled is that the casino or software provider that runs the progressive will front the $100,000 and the 10% will go to that until it is taken care of.

The progressive will then continue to grow. There are a few other ways to handle the reset amount, but the important thing to know is that the seed amount is taken from the wagers on the game, just like the progressive amount.

Continuing with our example, you are playing for a total cost per spin of $2.50. In this case, $0.25 of each spin will contribute to the progressive jackpot amount and $2.25 will be treated as a non-progressive machine. The other payouts and the machine's winnings are taken from this second amount.

A common misconception is that casinos take a huge cut of progressive jackpots. Casinos tend to make more money on large progressive jackpot machines, but not because they take a cut of the jackpot. In fact, they usually pay out 100% of the jackpot between the jackpot amount and the reset amount.

The reason they can make more profit on the biggest progressive jackpot games is because of the extra players trying to hit the big win. The media coverage increases as the jackpots get larger and the number of players increases. The extra profit comes from the second amount ($2.25) in our example.

For example, if the machine in our example is set to pay 90% over time, the casino will make 22.5 (twenty-two and a half) cents per bet. So here is the complete breakdown of a $2.50 bet on the slot machine in question.

Total Wager	$2.50
Progressive Jackpot Contribution	$0.25
Paid out to players (Average over time)	$2.025
Casino Profit (Average over time)	$0.225

What are the Differences Between a Local and Wide Area Progressive Jackpot

From a player's perspective, there is not much difference between a local progressive jackpot and a wide area progressive jackpot. A wide area progressive jackpot is sometimes called a linked jackpot and some progressives are called a bank. The wide area jackpot tends to grow faster because there are more players, but the mechanics of how the jackpots grow are the same.

A wide area progressive jackpot is one that is shared among games, usually slot machines, in a number of properties. For example, you might find the same progressive slot machine games in many land-based casinos, or in online casinos running the same software platform. When they are part of a wide area progressive, they all contribute to the same jackpot and are paid out of the same jackpot pool.

When there are hundreds or even thousands of players playing the same machines at the same time, the progressive amount is bound to grow faster than local progressives.

A local progressive jackpot is one that is usually tied to a single game. An example that many players have seen of a local progressive is a progressive game of Caribbean Stud Poker. The progressive is usually only tied to the single game or group of games at the particular casino.

In other words, if the casino has three tables offering Caribbean Stud, all three will most likely share the same progressive, but none of the other games will contribute. Note that the three games do not have to share the same jackpot. They can have three different progressive jackpots.

In land-based casinos, you will also encounter a bank of slot machines that share a progressive jackpot. These machines do not share a jackpot with any slots not included in the bank.

If you are wondering where the line is drawn between local and wide area progressive games, in my opinion, if the game is linked to games offered at other casinos, either land based or online, it is wide area. If it is linked to a single game or group of games in the same casino, it is a local progressive.

Of course, this goes back to the first part of this section in that it does not really matter to players. All that matters is how big the jackpot is and what you have to do to qualify for it.

What Types of Games Can Have Progressive Jackpots?

The most common types of games with progressive jackpots are slot machines. While the slots that are most likely to have progressives are the newer multi-line video slots, often with bonus rounds and other features, progressives can be found on all types of machines.

I have seen progressives on just about every type of slot machine you can think of, including three-reelers. I have also seen progressive jackpots attached to video poker machines and table games.

Although it is really beyond the scope of this page, if you are considering playing a video poker game with a progressive jackpot, compare the paytable of the progressive machine to the paytable of the non-progressive machine. The progressive video poker game will almost always have a worse paytable than the non-progressive one.

This does not mean that you should not play the progressive machine, because sometimes the progressive amount gets high enough that it is actually a profitable game to play.

An actual example of this that I have seen many times is Jacks or Better. The best Jacks or Better machines are called 9/6 machines and pay 9 coins for a full house and 6 coins for a flush. The progressive Jacks or Better games tend to pay only 8 coins for a full house and 5 coins for a flush.

Common table games with progressive jackpots include Caribbean Stud Poker, Roulette, and Let it Ride. In theory, almost any table game can be tied to a progressive jackpot. Most of the ones that have progressives have them tied to a side bet.

A common example is a $1 side bet. It is up to each player whether or not to place the progressive jackpot side bet. I have even seen more than one table game tied to the same progressive jackpot.

For example, a casino could have its Caribbean Stud and Let it Ride progressives together. This can create higher jackpots faster, as more people contribute to the jackpots.

Are There Progressive Jackpots Online and Off?

You will find great progressive jackpot games both online and at land-based casinos. Anything the casinos can do to get more people to play, they usually do, and huge progressive jackpots help get players in the door, or the virtual door.

So as long as progressive jackpots continue to help casinos make money, you will continue to find them in all types of casinos.

Popular Progressive Jackpot Games

Here is a table of some of the most popular progressive jackpot games both online and off. The amounts continue to increase and reset, so the popularity of these games goes up and down with the size of the top payouts.

These are just a few of the hundreds of possible progressive jackpots, so if you don't see one you like, just take a quick look around your favorite casino. You are sure to find plenty of other options.

Popular Online Progressive Jackpots	Popular Land Based Progressive Jackpots
Jackpot Cleopatra's Gold	Wheel of Fortune
Mega Moolah	Megabucks
Queen of the Pyramids	Millionaire 777s
Monster Madness	Powerbucks
Jackpot Pinatas	Monopoly Money
Stars and Stripes	Reel Adventures
Mega Jackpots	Cash Connection

Should I Play Progressive Jackpot Games?

This is a question only you can answer. There are progressive jackpots that are life changing amounts, but the odds of ever winning one are so high that millions of players will never hit one in their lifetime. But many players view all their gambling as entertainment and do not really count on winning anything in the long run.

If you have the money to play with and can view your gambling as an entertainment expense, then by all means try to hit a large progressive jackpot. As a side note, there is nothing wrong with either gambling as an entertainment expense or gambling while trying to find an advantage against the casino. I am not judging either way, just covering as much of the topic as I can.

Many casual casino players will play a few casino games instead of going out to dinner or a movie. If you were going to spend a few hundred on a night out, why not use it instead to take your chances on your favorite slot machine or table game? Even if you play the games with the highest house edge, you will occasionally come out a winner.

You can also find progressive jackpots that get so high that they can be played with a statistical edge over the casinos in the long run. I mentioned this when discussing video poker above and it is an in-depth topic that cannot be covered in full here, but it is possible and if you find these situations on a game that you enjoy you should take advantage of them and play.