In any online gambler's career, there comes a moment when they feel confident enough to step up their game and give progressive slots a try. If you're still on the fence about this kind of slot machine, this article will hopefully answer all or most of your questions regarding progressives. Our goal was to pack all the knowledge you'll need on your journey into one text you can revisit whenever needed.
Understanding Progressive Jackpot Slots
In essence, progressive jackpot slots are your regular slot machines, of which Red Dog has hundreds, only with one curious feature that makes them particularly attractive for high rollers - jackpots. Not just ordinary ones, mind you, but those that keep growing the more you and others play them. Let's examine the underlying principle in the following section.
Definition and How They Work
As the name implies, progressive jackpot slot games offer major rewards with dynamic value. Each spin that doesn't lead to a winning combination contributes a small fraction (usually 1% of the bet) to a prize pool until someone hits pay dirt. You can usually see the highest possible payout in real time - the developers add a separate counter somewhere around the playing board. This lets you decide whether it's time to join the jackpot hunters now or wait until more money is accumulated.
Different Types of Progressive Slots
While they all share similar features, there are three distinct categories of progressive slot machines, some of which can be more to your taste than the others:
Classic 3-Reel Progressives: basic vintage-themed machines with little to no in-game bonus features - only the increasing jackpots.
5-Reel Video Progressives: technically advanced, interactive, visually appealing games with progressive jackpots.
Multi-Level Progressives: slots with several tiers of jackpot prizes that add depth to the experience.
Network Progressives: Massive jackpots accumulated across multiple games with the largest potential payouts.
How to Play
Are you completely new to playing jackpot games online? No problem! Follow the steps below to get into action in a matter of seconds:
Choose Your Game: Pick a game from our extensive collection.
Set The Bet: Adjust your wager according to your comfort and budget.
Move The Reels: Hit that spin button until the symbols align into a paying combo.
Track The Jackpot: Keep an eye on the progressive counter (you might want to switch games if someone hits the Jackpot and thus resets the count to zero).
Enjoy The Game: Choose your way to play, but remember to take frequent breaks!
The Mathematics Behind Progressive Jackpots
Don't be afraid of the 'mathematics' in the header - no formulas here, just the volatility factor explained in layman's terms to better understand the clockwork inside jackpot slots.
In our case, volatility refers to the programming of the slot at the stage of its creation to set the balance between the win frequency and the payout amounts.
Progressive slots exhibit varying degrees of volatility, affecting the so-called RTP, or return-to-player rate. Low-volatility slots offer consistently smaller wins, while high-volatility slots deliver fewer but potentially larger payouts.
Understanding Odds and Probability
Odds represent the likelihood of a specific outcome in an isolated scenario, which is obviously a priority for a progressive player. That said, the odds of hitting the Jackpot are fairly modest compared to the chance of hitting a regular winning combo, so the game will reward you with plenty of smaller interim prizes as you go.
Probability, in turn, measures a particular event's likelihood over multiple trials. In slot machines, probability is determined by the game's RNG (Random Number Generator), which randomly selects symbols on each reel. Before becoming publicly available, all the Red Dog progressives are rigorously tested by independent regulators to exclude the probability of rigging and unfair practices.
The Role of Random Number Generators
RNGs continuously generate billions of random numbers per second, each corresponding to the position of a symbol on the slot machine's reels. When you initiate a spin, the RNG selects the winning combination governed by the hard-coded algorithm. The latter's role is not to allow the win rate to exceed or be lower than the winning rate considered fair by the regulators.
Payout Percentages Explained
The fairness of progressive slots is further ensured by their Return to Player (RTP) percentage, which indicates the average amount of money a player can expect to win back over time. Our slots with Jackpot have a reasonably high RTP, and we are proud to demonstrate it publicly on a dedicated page with monthly updates.
Progressive Jackpot Slot Features
While some more advanced in-game extras can vary significantly depending on your game of choice, the basic selection in almost all our progressives remains unchanged. A seasoned player may have guessed we mean Wild and Scatter symbols - let's look at each.
Wilds are your basic multiplier that almost always appears randomly to double the payout of the current winning combo. Sometimes, Wilds can have additional properties, like expanding and covering a whole reel for a truly big prize.
Scatters are a more intricate feature that requires more patience to unfold its maximum potential. Typically, you'll need 3 or more scatters for anything to happen, and this 'anything' is activating a bonus round with a varying amount of free spins, about 5 to 15.
Online vs. Offline Progressive Slots
The only real difference between playing progressives in land-based versus online casinos is that the former may be connected in a network that spans across states or continents or even sprawls worldwide.
A brick-and-mortar jackpot slots casino can thus offer something called Wide-Area Progressives. These slots link up not just several games but all the titles provided by one or several casino conglomerates to create colossal jackpots, reaching millions of dollars.
FAQ
What are progressive slots in a nutshell?
These slot machines offer a main prize accumulated over time from the unlucky bets of other players.
What are some progressive slot types?
There are basic three-reel machines, vibrant 5-reel slots, network progressives and slots with several jackpot tiers.
What are my odds of winning a progressive jackpot?
The game calculates the odds of each spin individually, based on the bet amount and additional parameters like the RTP rate.
