Jackpot

The grand prize in slot machines, when the best-paying reel symbol combination hits.

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As slot machine technology has become more advanced, slots jackpots have gotten larger in size. A Liberty Bell slot machine jackpot topped out at $5. Today, slots jackpots can range into the millions of dollars.

There are two types of slot machines when it comes to describing the type of jackpots they offer: flat tops and progressives.

Flat top slot machines are the traditional slot machine jackpot type. These jackpots are called "flat tops" because they have a definite ceiling. A slot machine might have a flat $5,000 top jackpot, which will never climb higher. For this reason, the slot machine is considered a flattop.

Progressive jackpot theoretically have no upward ceiling, and therefore they are not flat tops. The jackpot on progressive slot machines "progress" every time the machine is played and the jackpot is not hit. That is, the ultimate jackpot size grows. Progressive jackpots start at a point -- say $5,000 -- and grow from that point. When a progressive jackpot is hit, the jackpot starts over at the $5,000 point.

Progressives have been known to grow into the $8 million or $10 million range. These are usually on the linked progressive networks, where many slot machines are feeding into the same progressive jackpot.

When dealing with progressive jackpots, there is a slots strategy to finding the right machine to play. If you find two similar progressive slot machines, you want to play on a machine with the $10,000 jackpot as opposed to the $5,000. At a point, a progressive jackpot will rise to the point that it becomes a positive expectation game. That is, the jackpot has risen so high that the odds of hitting the jackpot are higher than the amount of money you would have to risk to hit that jackpot (on average), and therefore you are playing with an edge on the house.

The problem is, the chances of hitting the progressive jackpot remain the same (very low), and no player has the time or money to continue playing long enough to ensure a victory. Since the jackpot could continue to rise indefinitely, a player playing even with a positive expectation on a progressive jackpot is not assured of winning.

It should be noted that machines with progressive jackpots are necessarily going to pay out on less spins than flat tops slot machines. If you want to play for one big payoff, play for progressive jackpots. If you want more winning spins, play for flat top jackpots.