If you aren’t quite sure what progressive slots really are or how they work, it’s actually rather simple: Progressive slots are a type of slots that have a jackpot that increases every time someone plays at it. That makes them different from regular types of slots where the jackpot is fixed.

The reason why progressive slots are able to ‘grow’ their jackpot is because with each and every bet a small portion is placed into the progressive jackpot. For example, if you’re betting $1 then $0.10 of that bet may be immediately placed into the progressive jackpot – causing it to grow.

While that may not seem like much – imagine what happens when hundreds or even thousands of players are playing simultaneously. Needless to say with numerous bets being placed every minute, the jackpot is going to start to get very big, very fast – until it is won and resets back to its original state.

Types of Progressive Slots

In general there are three types of progressive slots that you’ll encounter: Stand-alone progressives, local progressives, and wide-network progressives.

As the name implies, stand-alone progressives have a jackpot that grows, but it is only linked to a single machine – so only bets that are made on it will increase the jackpot. On the other hand, local progressives are a bit different and consist of groups of machines in the same area (normally about 10 to 20 machines) that are linked to all contribute to the same jackpot.

When it comes to online casinos or larger casinos however, the type of progressive slots that is most common would have to be wide-network progressives. With this type of slots, a huge amount of slot machines are all linked together – sometimes throughout different states. Because so many machines are linked, the jackpot can become very huge – and ends up in the tens of millions of dollars.

“Why Play Progressive Slots?”

The main draw of progressive slots (especially wide-network progressive slots) lies in the fact that it offers a huge payout – if you win. That appeals to many slots players, who would like to at least have a crack at winning it.

To be entirely honest, the odds of winning a wide-network progressive jackpot is low – about as low as winning the lottery. Still, if you do happen to get lucky then you’ll have landed a huge prize and that is bound to pique your interest.

All said and done however, it boils down to a question of personal preference. Some people prefer playing non-progressives that offer a higher chance of landing the jackpot but a substantially smaller payout at the same time. On the other hand others enjoy the thrill that comes with possibly winning millions of dollars with a single spin.

If you’d like to see some progressive slots you can visit Paddy Power and take a look at some of the games that are available. When you see one that has a jackpot that seems to increase – then you’ve found a progressive slots game.