Jackpots are one of the most exciting features of any casino game, especially when they get really big. You can bet on just about anything these days, and that includes the chance to win a life-changing sum playing slots at your favorite online casino site. What are some good bets to place to maximize your chances? Here are top jackpot betting tips:

Prefer land-based to online jackpots

There’s a reason why top casino sites aren’t raking in cash from their progressive jackpots. The owners of these establishments make most of their money from running games out of physical, brick and mortar casinos – not through websites. They heavily favor slot machines that can be found in actual casinos over ones with digital counterparts. This is because the odds of winning one of these giant prizes are much higher at a live casino than they are on a virtual machine.

Check multiple machines when playing

Another thing you should do when playing slots with progressive jackpots is to check more than just your main game screen. There may only be one jackpot visible at any time, but many different machines are part of the same pool, so there may be other opportunities to win throughout your session.

Find out which denominations pay out the biggest jackpots

As you may know, not all slot machines have jackpots that grow equally along with their bets, and this is especially true for top betting sites. The reason why is because the calculations used to determine whether or not you hit a progressive prize happen after each spin. Slot machines with smaller denominations require less coinage to contribute to the total, so if their value doesn’t increase much during play – e.g., if it’s capped at 1 coin per line – it won’t make much of a difference in terms of taking down the overall pot.

Look at the paytable

If you’re playing progressive slots, it’s important to know which ones award the biggest prizes. This is usually fairly obvious; plenty of banners and other enticements encourage players to “Play for $2,000,000”. You have to click on the game info icon or find similar information listed in the paytable. However, remember that jackpots aren’t won every time a certain combination of symbols appears on the screen; they only become available when someone gets lucky enough to activate them.

Don’t give up if you don’t win right away

It can be quite disheartening if you play several rounds without getting anywhere near close enough to take down one of these progressive jackpots. Remember that you need to first reach their qualifying thresholds; only then do you become eligible for the big prizes.

Watch out for geographic restrictions

You should be aware of any legal, statutory, or otherwise technical barriers that prevent players from your specific country from claiming large jackpot rewards at overseas casinos. Some countries even prohibit residents entirely from visiting online gambling destinations altogether, so it’s best to check into this before betting on anything other than slots with small denomination payouts. Luckily, most people won’t encounter these kinds of issues since there are plenty of international slot machines available for play to anyone who feels like spinning the reels and taking a chance to win some cash.

Bet wisely based on the jackpot’s size

Fairly obvious, but if a progressive jackpot is already worth an enormous amount of cash, then it might be a good idea to play on another machine. While you’re not going to increase your chances of winning by switching from a large prize pool to a smaller one, there’s always the chance that something else will happen instead. One option would be hitting the max bet button on your present slot and seeing how far it takes you before losing all your money. You may even strike it lucky if the associated payout odds are low enough.

Check whether or not there’s a guaranteed minimum

If you prefer playing on slots with high variance those that have big potential for big payouts, then you’ll want to check whether or not the progressive jackpot has a minimum prize attached to it. If it does, this means that you’re guaranteed to win something of at least that much before splitting the pot with anyone else who also hit the jackpot during their spins.

Don’t get greedy

As mentioned earlier, many slot machines are part of the same network of prizes. Several players on different devices can be awarded payouts simultaneously before they get collected by one lucky winner. This is why it’s suggested that you only commit your wager towards slots games that have already given out some credits before getting lucky enough to take down an enormous jackpot pool.

Look into loyalty programs and bonuses

Slot machine players who participate in a casino’s loyalty program will usually get a separate bank of accrued credits that they can then use to try and take down large jackpot prizes. You’ll also sometimes find that you automatically qualify for bonus money by signing up for one of these programs. The more slots you play, the bigger your bonus will eventually be, so it might be worth sticking around even when you’ve run out of cash on hand.

Double down if possible

It’s good to have multiple options available in case you’re fortunate enough to hit multiple progressive jackpots in a row. For instance, imagine scoring the max bet jackpot on one machine and then hitting it again on another after moving from slot to slot or changing which online casino you play at. In this situation, you’ll instantly win an enormous sum of money which is far above the guaranteed minimum for these types of jackpots.

Watch how they’re calculated

Some slots have a pre-defined multiplier applied to a base amount before being added into the overall pot that all winners split evenly. For instance, if your initial bet was $1 and then won a jackpot with a 10x modifier attached to it, only one-tenth of your prize will be going home with you since 90% of it goes towards increasing the previous total pool. This can happen several times until, eventually, someone strikes gold and wins everything.

Keep an eye on foreign currencies

This isn’t very important when playing at a US online casino in US dollars since you don’t have to worry about exchange rates and all that stuff. However, if you’re playing slots games in Euros or some other currency, then it’s probably worth keeping track of the conversion rate before taking down a progressive jackpot. This will determine whether your payout money is worth more than what you originally wagered on the slot machine.

Bet on slots from smaller developers

Finding AAA slots with progressive jackpots can be very exciting, but they’re also going to have a lot more competition from whoever else is playing at the same time as you. The benefits to this are twofold: you’ll have a better chance of getting a jackpot payout surrounded by smaller prizes worth less than that amount, and if you’re the only player who wins, then it’s yours to keep. You may need to take your chances with games produced by small online casinos instead if you want a higher probability of hitting these large payouts.

Don’t bet on one machine for too long

If there are no other slot machines available for immediate use, don’t risk losing all of your bets on a single machine. You can use the time it takes for new games to load up and become available by either cashing out of your current jackpot or moving onto another one altogether. If you get greedy, you might just end up losing everything that you’ve accumulated throughout several rounds.

Think about betting on progressive slots during special events

During certain holidays like Christmas and New Year’s Eve, online casino companies like to make their progressive jackpots grow more rapidly than they normally would. This is because all of their players are in a celebratory mood and will be more likely to place larger wagers on slots machines while using them throughout the year. It’s still possible for players at any time to strike gold if they’re extremely lucky, but it’s somewhat more likely during these special occasions.

Increase your bet size if you’ve hit a jackpot of any kind

Progressive jackpots are not only designed to accumulate more money over time, but they can also be increased with little bits of extra cash on hand, like the bonuses you receive after signing up with an online casino or mobile app. You might want to consider this before firing off all of your money at one of these slots games; for instance, you could increase your bet size by 50 cents at a time until eventually winning one of these progressive jackpots.

Use free-spins wisely

Many of them will have some sort of bonus attached to them to compensate for the fact that you’re not putting any money into the pot. One of these bonuses can be a feature that pays out based on how many free spins you earn before collecting your original winnings. If the prize is over $100, then you’ll have to play more than just a few rounds to win anything at all, but if it’s less than that, then doubling down on this special mode might be worth doing.

Collect matching symbols while playing for free

You want to find as many repeated values as possible on each spin so long as they add up towards one of your winning combos. It doesn’t matter which ones they are since these values will contribute towards an overall multiplier paid out once every single combination has been found.

Get some practice before playing for real money

You can just keep on trying new machines until you find the jackpot that’s right for you. This is one of the better alternatives to larger progressive machines since they have smaller prizes that are awarded more frequently. Hence, it’s easier to adjust your strategy accordingly during play.

Take advantage of upcoming large jackpots

One of these slot games will be worth betting on if its percentage increases over time. It’s impossible to know which machine first hit this milestone without specifically keeping track of it on a separate website, but if you’re online, there are plenty of tools that will help with this process. It might not always make sense to use them, but you’ll want to use them if you hear about a smaller jackpot worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Choose your slot machine with care

When deciding which one to play, make sure to check its percentage payout rate if not for any other reason than just checking out what kind of deals it offers. They’re normally listed right on the main page, so finding them won’t be hard at all. These percentages can vary from time to time, so expect some changes to occur during any specific jackpot event.

Don’t bet on progressive machines if they aren’t popular

If a particular jackpot isn’t paying out more often than not, then there’s no point in wasting your money on its associated games. You’d be better off finding a jackpot to bet on that’s listed in the top 10 largest prize pools. It might not payout as often, but at least you’ll get something when it does.

Wait until the jackpot is worth more money before betting

If this is your first time playing one of these machines, you should wait until a special event has been announced. You probably won’t hear about it from anyone other than their main page, so keep an eye out for news articles to pop up during the latter portion of each year. Any jackpots that originate from New Year’s Eve festivities will be worth around $10,000 or more in many cases, so look for them if you don’t see anything else worthwhile.

Check out which machines pay the most in wins

You need to remember that these jackpots aren’t always spread out evenly amongst all of the various available slot games. Some will be worth hundreds of dollars, while others can even reach into six figures, so choose your machine carefully if you’re looking to get rich off of a single bet. If you’re playing for fun, go ahead and gamble away, but if you want something that will make an actual difference, then play smartly online.

Double-check the payout before betting on one of these machines. They can look enticing at first glance since many people will see the multiple jackpot values listed above its title screen. They don’t realize that not all of these jackpots are paid out at the same time, so you might end up missing out on some extra money. If it’s a progressive machine and its multiplier is currently stuck, then you can bet on it like normal. However, if the jackpot has been previously collected, then you’ll be betting on top of that total entirely rather than earning anything from it.

Look for any special rules before playing

Try looking at what kind of wager values must be used with each spin to get the maximum returns possible. Some jackpot games will require a specific number of coins, while others will need them placed on specific lines or columns to attract better payouts. It doesn’t always make sense to go against them, but you will want to check them out before making one of your decisions.

Choose slots with high jackpot values over ones with bonuses

You should always play on a machine with the highest possible payout percentage since these are the ones that will be worth more money if you win. These percentages can vary between different machines, so don’t think that they’re all alike in this regard even if they look identical to one another otherwise. Jackpots are increased by 1% each time someone wins at it, which means that the odds of hitting it improves slightly every single time. This is why waiting for a big jackpot will make sense when compared to other games.

Don’t expect to find many progressive jackpots in land-based casinos

The value of jackpot wins only going to be worth something when you’re dealing with online casino games, and even then, their values can vary quite a bit depending on the current payout percentage. Progressive machines tend to use random numbers that aren’t generated by a person or entity but will instead appear completely random. While the top jackpot winnings will be listed above each machine’s screen, any penny slot machine should start with a minimum of 30 credits once its coin meter has been activated first.

Know that many jackpots are already paid off before they’re added to collections

Although these slot games are called “progressive” machines for a good reason, don’t think for one second that they’re automatically going to pay out their jackpots. This is why it’s almost always better to bet on the maximum wager amount that each slot game will allow because you’ll end up earning more money if you do manage to land a big win. Don’t forget about any special rules which need to be followed either, since these can also increase your earnings.

Conclusion

Jackpot betting is very different from other types of gambling, so don’t expect to walk away with loads of cash just by pushing a button. Instead, know what you’re doing before sitting down in front of one of these machines, and you’ll have a much better chance at walking away satisfied.