How a Progressive Jackpot Influences Your Winning Odds

Odds play an important role in all gambling endeavors, including games like online video poker and online slots. You may be one of those players who never think about odds. Many players simply enjoy the thrill of putting in their virtual coins and seeing three big symbols or four-of-a-kind appear across the screen, signaling a big payoff. However, you can bet the online casino that is hosting your game has considered the odds very carefully before the game ever gets transmitted to your computer.

How Do Odds Work for Online Slot and Video Poker?

Unfortunately, in general, the odds are stacked against you. Online casinos make money by paying out at slightly worse odds than your true odds of hitting a particular combination. What this means is that although over the short term there is no telling how much you can win, if you play long enough, you can expect to end up on the losing side. Of course, the short term can be a very long time.

How Does the Progressive Jackpot Fit In?

On some online slot and video poker machines there will be a progressive jackpot offered. You may notice that the amount of this jackpot continually grows, hence the name, progressive. You can only win this jackpot by hitting a very rare combination in your game. This is good for you, however, as it is part of what enables the jackpot to grow. Each player on a progressive jackpot machine contributes part of each coin they deposit into the progressive jackpot until the jackpot is hit. Once it is hit, the jackpot starts over.

How Does the Progressive Jackpot Influence Your Winning Odds?

As you may have guessed, since the progressive jackpot grows independently of your odds of hitting it, the house cannot control the payout vs. the odds of the progressive jackpot. In fact, the house has no interest in doing so, since they don’t pay the progressive jackpot, the players do, out of their contributions to the game. What this means is that although it is rare, if you hit the progressive jackpot at the right time, you can become a winning video poker or online slot machine player for life.

How Can You Win the Progressive Jackpot and Be a Winning Player For Life?

The only way to win the progressive jackpot is to play progressive jackpot machines. When you play these machines, you must play the maximum amount of coins or you will not qualify for the jackpot. If this is too much of an investment, drop down to a lower coin level where you can afford to play the maximum.

More related casino articles:
- The Martingale Roulette System
- The Fibonacci Roulette Betting System