Here’s How To Win at Online Gaming

If you have ever visited an online casino, you will have undoubtedly seen a section on the site marked “Jackpots”. This sub-section of casino games isn’t really understood by the layman, but the mechanics of jackpot games is very interesting. And, indeed, understanding them can help with your gaming strategy.

First of all, the pertinent question: What is a jackpot casino game? That may seem like an obvious question. After all, it’s widely assumed by their very nature all casino games have jackpots, i.e. a top prize. However, jackpot game is shorthand for progressive jackpot game, and that’s a special genre of casino game.

Basically, a progressive jackpot is a prize funded by players. Each time you spin the reels to hunt for that jackpot, a small percentage of your wager is paid into a fund. Normally, this payment is about 1% of the total bet. So, for instance, if your bet is 20p, then each spin would pay a fifth of a penny into the pot.

Contributions are unnoticed by players

Obviously, that small contribution would not be enough to notice, but even if the average wager was £5, making a 5p contribution per spin, it’s still going to take a lot of spins to make the prize something spectacular. So, how then do these progressive jackpot prizes reach millions of pounds?

The answer is a simple use of economies of scales. A typical jackpot game, like Mega Moolah, Mega Fortune or Jackpot Giant would be licensed out to casinos across countries like Ireland, the UK, Canada, South Africa and so on. Everybody making those spins across the globe will be adding into the pot. Moreover, developers have started linking games together, meaning several different titles could have the same progressive jackpot.

A good way to think about it is to consider the EuroMillions and UK Lotto. The former harnesses the combination of populations across several European countries, whereas the latter uses just the comparably small UK population. As a consequence, the EuroMillions prize is always several times bigger.

Winners are decided on a random basis

Anyway, to the mechanics of the jackpot games. How are the winners decided? The answer is that the top prize will be awarded randomly, and not even the casino operators know when or how much will be paid. The RNG software will decide on a payout amount for the jackpot in advance, and the player whose spin breaks that threshold is awarded the massive payout.

For the reasons set out above, progressive jackpots are said to be awarded randomly, but it’s a bit weighted in favour of high stakes players. Think about it, if your contribution is 0.2p per spin and another high roller is putting £1 into the pot with each spin, they are more likely to break the threshold. However, don’t despair – there have been several high-profile cases of low stakes players winning massive prizes in the UK in recent years.

The rise of progressive jackpots has really been the big story in the online casino industry over the last few years, and we should stress that it is an area that is still developing. For instance, there are now many casino games with daily jackpots, i.e. those timed to be paid by a certain time, and ‘must go jackpots’ those that are guaranteed to be paid before it hits a specific amount.

In the end, you should treat the games with the same kind of mentality as buying a lottery ticket. The mathematics involved mean it’s unlikely you will become a millionaire when playing jackpot games, but it is certainly not impossible. And that fact means that this rise in jackpot games seems likely to continue in the years to come.