A progressive jackpot is a jackpot that gradually gets bigger as the game is played. These are available in 3 different varieties. A game can have its own jackpot, so in this case, the jackpot is only increased by the money put into that machine.
But it can also be networked with other slot machines in the same area of the casino. In that case, all these games share the same jackpot. All coins wagered on any machine on that local network feed into the jackpot.
And some jackpots are shared between machines Slots over a large geographic area.
What all these games have in common is that they take a tiny percentage of each of your bets and use that to fuel the jackpot. This can be as little as 1% or 2% of every bet you make. But if many machines are connected together, these jackpots can grow quickly.
The problem is that getting a jackpot like this to come out is incredibly difficult. In fact, if the jackpot is big enough, it’s probably just as hard to get as winning the lottery.
Anyway, since part of the payback percentage on one of these games comes from a big jackpot, your actual payback percentage will only suffer from the fact that, realistically, you’re never going to hit that jackpot in your entire life.
Also, since a percentage of each of your bets goes into the jackpot, you are losing even more percentage payback.
It’s fun to talk about what you would do with all that money if you won that life-changing jackpot. But it’s better to play on a flat slot machine. That is, machines with a fixed jackpot as the maximum prize.
It might not sound all that exciting, but you’re more likely to go home a winner if you stick to the simpler games.