Slot machines have been around for more than 100 years now and they are currently the most profitable option for a casino operator. The fact is that up to 70% of profits from gaming come from slot machines. There´s no denying that gaming has come of age with slot machines.
Sittman and Pitt of Brooklyn developed the first the gambling machine in 1891, which can be considered the precursor to the modern slot machine. This machine was based on 5 drums and had a total of 50 faces. The machine was based on poker and was extremely popular among players. The prizes the machine paid out included a free beer, a cigar, or drinks on the house.
Today, slot machines have come a long way from the olden days. The machines usually come with touch screens. There are a number of variations to slot machines, but the basics remain the same. Slot machines can be classified according to the prizes they pay. What is characteristic to all of all of them is that they are all amazing simple to play and provide unbelievable amounts of fun. One of the most popular variations today is the progressive slot machine.
Progressive slots basically are a series of slot machines in different locations that have been linked to each other in a network. This automatically means two things: a lower than average payout compared to other slot games, and a huge jackpot. Since the machines are linked to each other, there is an additional cost involved in running these machines at different locations, which is the cause basically for the low payouts.
The jackpot in progressive slots is usually huge because a percentage of the stakes from each machine in the network goes into it. All these percentages together add up to a huge amount. The size of the jackpot is directly proportional to the number of people who are playing the game at the moment. The game continues until a player hits the winning combination and the winner hits the jackpot.
While it is not everyday a player gets to win a progressive slots jackpot, the amount involved in case someone wins one is usually big enough to change the person’s lifestyle. It is this high jackpot amount that draws players to the progressive slots despite the low payout. This in turn has played a big role in the huge popularity of progressive slots across the world.
There are variations to the progressive slot theme. Some of these variations include stand-alones, in-house, and wide area progressives. Stand-alones are not linked to other machines and they pay back a percentage of the total number of coins played on the machine. The jackpot for the stand alone progressive is often lower than those for the machines that are linked together.
In-house machines are a series of machines that are owned by the same casino. They could be located in the same location or linked across several different locations. While the jackpot may not be a life changing figure, it can be quite substantial. Players are more likely to hit the jackpot in in-house machines than in wide area progressives.
Wide area progressives are a series of machines that are linked by a network and located in different casinos run by the same gaming company. The jackpot is large enough to be life-changing, but the chances of hitting a jackpot are remote.
Despite the low chances of hitting the jackpot, progressive slot machines continue to be very popular and a source of genuine fun for players all over the world.
