Who Pays Progressive Jackpots in Online Casinos?

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Written by: , Founder March 14, 2021 at 4:13PM
Last Updated: February 1, 2024 at 4:34PM ()
Read Time: 4 min.

Everyone is used to the fact that a player’s win is considered a casino loss, and vice versa. As such, if a player hits millions in progressive jackpot, the casinos must be overwhelmed by their bad luck. Paying millions of dollars would make many small operators go bust, yet they seem to be happy to pay those huge jackpots.

Who Contributes to Jackpots?

Well, it turns out casinos do not bear a lot of financial burden when jackpot is hit, even though it’s a lot of money. The reason is that operators do not pay jackpots from their own pockets. They do contribute to the initial (seed) value, but the rest of the funds come from player contributions.

Have a look at Mega Fortune by NetEnt, for instance. When players place a bet, 1% of it goes to Rapid, 1% to Major and 5.39% to Mega jackpot. Contributions feed current jackpot and the one that will come next. In case of Rapid jackpot, 10% of contributions are set aside for the next Rapid jackpot. In case of Major and Mega jackpots, it’s 10% and 8%, correspondingly.

Every progressive jackpot slot will provide details on how much a single bet contributes to the growing prize pool. Refer to the game rules for that information.

Who Pays Jackpots?

There are various progressive jackpots, which differ not only in the average amount of prize money, but also in how they are accumulated and who pays players. The money will be paid by either casino operator or developer depending on whether the jackpot is local or global.

Global Progressive Jackpot

Global jackpot, which is also called network jackpot, means that slot machines in various casinos are connected to the same jackpot. Regardless of where they play, all players contribute to one prize pool, hence its name – global.

Global Progressive Jackpot

Jackpot is collected by developer and is kept separately on a jackpot account. Therefore, when player hits global progressive jackpot, the money is paid by the developer. There can be two options of winners getting their wins: software provider transfers money directly to the winner or the amount first goes to the casino and gets credited to player casino account and then is withdrawn.

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Why Do Online Casinos Set Betting Limits?

If you visit different casinos offering the same network jackpot, you will see that the amount is the same everywhere. Check Mega Moolah, Hall of Gods, Mega Fortune, Mega Fortune Dreams and Major Millions, for example. These are some of the most popular network jackpots. There are hundreds of casinos feeding them, as a result, the amounts grow rapidly and reach colossal size.

In September 2018 Mega Moolah set a world record by dropping over 18.9 mln Euros. Other jackpots like Mega Fortune, WowPot! and Joker Millions are also capable of awarding multimillion wins.

Local Progressive Jackpot

It accumulates within a single casino or within several related brands. In this case, the amounts usually do not grow to record volumes. Money contributed by players is collected by the operator itself, not the provider, and therefore winners are paid by casinos.

If you visit different gambling sites, Jackpots you’ll see different jackpot amounts displayed in each casino. And that’s how it should be, since casinos aren’t connected into a single network and each of them accumulates its own jackpot.

Divine Fortune by NetEnt is one of the most famous local jackpots. Cosmic Fortune and Super Lucky Frog are less known NetEnt jackpot slots as they offer smaller prizes. Some Yggdrasil slots offer local jackpots. These are Ozwin’s Jackpot, Holmes and the Stolen Stones and Jackpot Express. There are more of them offered by BetSoft, Red Tiger Gaming and other developers.

Jackpot Withdrawal Limits

Solid operators do withdraw progressive jackpots in a single lump sum regardless of the amount. But some shady casinos apply standard withdrawal limits and make it a painfully slow process, even though there are no good reasons in doing so. There are cases of casino agreeing to pay much smaller amounts in one lump sum instead of the full amount being paid over several decades. So, you should be really careful when reading terms and conditions.