Networked Online Casino Progressives
Date Added: November 20, 2008
Casino progressives are the mainstay of online casinos. Mostly progressive jackpots are offered in online slots games but there are versions of roulette, blackjack and video poker that also offer progressive jackpots.
Casino progressives work as follows. A portion of each wager is allotted to the progressive jackpot. A small part of that is used as the seed for the reset amount of the jackpot, but most of it adds to the current value of the progressive jackpot. Therefore as players wager on the casino progressive game the jackpot amount goes on increasing. When a specified event takes place in the casino game, the progressive jackpot is 'hit'. In online slots this event is usually the lining up of five identical symbols in a payline. In Roulette Royale, a progressive roulette game, the jackpot is hit if the same number is called five times in a row and in video poker games it is the royal flush that triggers the jackpot.
Internet technology has allowed casino progressives to be networked. Each online gaming software developer powers a number of online casinos. By and large the same casino games are offered at each of the online casinos. What software providers have done is networked each casino progressive game on all its online casinos by offering a common jackpot pool. It does not matter whether players wager on Mega Moolah at Blackjack Ballroom or Platinum Play or Roxy Palace they are all adding to the same progressive jackpot pool. Therefore the progressive jackpot amount grows at a faster rate and draws more traffic. Usually the different casino progressive games have separate networks. Cryptologic has taken this concept one step further. It has introduced series of online slots that share a progressive jackpot across the games as well as across the online casinos. An example is the four slots Movie Mayhem series.
The advantage of networked casino progressives is that over time the expected payout increases with the wagered amount remaining the same. Therefore it is not uncommon for online casino players to track certain casino progressives. Currently Mega Moolah is the largest progressive jackpot available in online casinos. This online slot is powered by Microgaming and stands at $4.6 million. It hit $5.6 million a year ago and therefore is very popular. Next is Aladdin’s Lamp from Boss Media, which stands at $2.3 million. MegaJackpots from WagerWorks stands at $2.2 million. MegaJackpots is a series of slots games based on popular board games like Monopoly and Cluedo. The jackpot has just been hit and this is the reset amount. Millionaire Genie by Random Logic is also at the $2.2 million level. Just below the million dollar level are two casino progressives from Real Time Gaming, Jackpot Pinatas and Shopping Spree.
Links