Tips for Dealing with a Non-Paying Casino

 

Let’s assume that you signed up, played in a casino, and got quite lucky. Now you want to collect your winnings and the casino doesn’t want to pay up. What’s going on? First of all, hopefully you at least read through the terms and conditions for the site. This is absolutely key before playing anywhere. Over 60% of the cases that are legitimately heard by an authority and argued turn out in the casino’s favor because the player did NOT read all the way through the T&Cs; of the site. Remember that when you register to play in a casino you are entering into a binding agreement with the casino. You are saying that you agree to play by those rules (whatever they are and regardless of how reasonable or unreasonable they are) and the casino, in turn, states that they will allow you to gamble your money on their games and if you win, they will pay you. If you make even a small infraction of the rules, you have effectively voided this contract. The casino then no longer has any obligation to give you your winnings. Many of the more reputable ones will at least return your deposit- but not always.

Now, with that out of the way, let’s assume that you are quite positive you broke no casino rules and played fairly. The casino still isn’t paying out your winnings. What do you do next? Visit trusted sourse for best online casinos listed at gamblingpedia.org casino guide, reviews and gambling listings

  1. Contact customer support. E-mail them, chat with online, call them- every method that you have for contact, tale advantage of it. E-mails and live chat may not be especially effective at first, as you will be dealing with a customer service agent first, and they may or may not be able to help you. However, we recommend these methods because they provide verifiable evidence of your conversations. Set your chat application to save all chats beforehand. Now, if they give you information about your withdrawal, you will have the dated chat to refer to as evidence of what the CS agent has told you, should the need to contact them again in the future about your transaction be required.
    In fact, just to be on the safe side, take screen captures of the terms of service and anything else that you think may help you in your case. It is uncommon, but not unknown, for a casino to change the T&Cs; after a big win to reflect changes that confirm a reason for not paying you. Meaning, you were totally within the rules of the site prior to your big win, and suddenly the rules have been changed so that now, there’s a reason for them to not give you your money.
    Of course, this is one of the reasons you should only play at a secure, reputable casino (but that’s already been established). Many times, the agent can help or refer you to upper management and the situation can be resolved privately. It may be a problem with your banking method, with certain documentation, or simply a mistake in data entry on their part. If repeated consults with the cs agents or management do not resolve the issue, proceed to step 2.
  2. The first thing you can do if customer support and the casino manager is unresponsive is file a complaint with the licensing jurisdiction of the casino. Sometimes the process for resolving complaints entirely through the system is long and drawn out. The complaint departments in some districts are notably slow, and you are not likely to see any action for some time. However, we recommend this as a action because it enters your complaint onto an official record- both for your benefit and the benefit of the licensing agent. Too many complaints can trigger an investigation of the casino in question, and may result (eventually) in them being de-licensed.
  3. The next step is to contact your bank, eWallet service, or financial institutions to see if there are any problems on their end. Alternatively, they may be able to contact the casino and get an answer regarding your situation easier than you can. The eWallet service provides something valuable to the casino, and it is worthwhile to the casino to make sure that there are no future problems in processing funds from other users with that service.
  4. The final avenue you have in terms of getting your money is to post in online forums and mention your problem. Other gamblers can offer helpful tips and may even have had their own issues with that particular casino. They can offer insights you could only come by the hard way on your own. It’s also the case many times that the casino will have an agent or associate that posts on the forum and interacts with the players there. Contacting this agent personally (and in a professional, polite manner) can set the wheels in motion toward resolving your issue. You can also seek out a gambling-advocate site that mediates between the player and the casino. These are often helpful in getting the answers you require. If nothing else, posting online in several different places can alert other players to the possible problems of playing in that casino.

 

Should you find yourself in the unfortunate position of not being paid, these tips will guide you toward figuring out what went wrong. With any luck, though, you’ll never have to go through this process. Remember: the best way to avoid these kinds of rustrations in the first place is to play at only regulated, fair casinos and to thoroughly read the terms and conditions (and follow them!).

 

Systems and Strategies: Part II

 

"Remember this: The house doesn't beat the player. It just gives him the opportunity to beat himself." - Nicholas (Nick the Greek) Dandalos

The number one problem with using betting systems is that they all rely in some part on the gambler’s fallacy. The gambler’s fallacy is simply this: the idea that an event becomes overdue and more likely to occur if it has not happened in a long time. For example, if a person thinks that black is more likely to come up on the roulette wheel because the last 3 spins were red, they are falling prey to the gambler’s fallacy. What’s important to understand is that wheels, reels, dice, and any other instrument of chance in the gambling world have no memory. The roulette ball does not know that it has already landed on red 3 times. It can therefore not ‘react’ on the next spin by aiming for a black. For each and every spin of the wheel, the chances of wither red or black are always 50/50 (well-slightly less than that because of the green pocket/s). One never becomes more or less likely than the other to occur.

Betting systems depend on the idea that after a losing streak you are more likely to win, as well as vice versa. If you lose 5 hands, you are more likely to win the 6th and get your money back, or something similar. An example of this is any system like the Martingale where you double your bet every time you lose. Then, when you finally win, you’ll have earned back everything you lost plus the initial wager amount. For instance, if I start off betting a dollar, lose 3 hands and then win the fourth, the pattern would look like this: lose $1 on first hand, raise bet and lose $2 on 2nd hand, raise bet and lose $4 on 3rd hand, raise bet and win $16. I will have lost $7, in total on the first 3 bets. When I bet $8, I get back the $8 I was betting and win an additional $8, which makes up for the $7 I lost plus gives me an addition unit of $1 (which was my starting bet). Sounds good, right? Except that this means I risked losing $15 to win $1, because if I had lost that 4th hand I’d be out the$8 plus the other $7 I’d already lost.

You’d be surprised at how this can add up over time. At the betting rate in our previous example, after 13 losing hands (a streak that is far from impossible) you’d have lost over $8,000 just trying to win $1. Other types of betting systems depend on the opposite concept. They require you to up your bet when winning and decrease your bet after a loss. Still others depend on even more complex algorithms to determine the bet amount per hand, or spin. In the end though, no system can change the laws of averages. Mathematicians have repeatedly tested betting systems over the course of multiple hands. No matter how you look at it, it levels out to be that you lost slightly more than you made, to a percentage that is fairly approximate to the house edge on the game you are playing. Check out this article at Online Casino Lane for more on information on how they test this.

Every once in a while a player gets extremely lucky, of course, and takes home a huge jackpot. However, with the exception of skill-based games such as poker, these wins are always a function of random chance. They are just as likely to happen to non-system users as they are to players using a system. If you really feel like trying a system out, then pick it up at your local library or look them up online for free. Never let anyone talk you into paying for the system. If it were worth anything to begin with, they could use it to win everything they needed in the casino, and they wouldn’t need to be selling their idea to you.

 

 

Systems and Strategies: Part I

The average online gambler very quickly comes into contact with advertisements and articles purporting to offer the best ‘system’ for beating a particular game, including slots. Sometimes these systems are referred to as sure-fire ‘strategies’ for winning or betting methods that promise to turn you into a table shark in the casino. First of all, I’d like to point out that while the terms ‘system’ and ‘strategy’ are often used interchangeably, there is a difference between them when it comes to gambling. Many online salesmen overlook the difference because the term strategy implies a measure of skill that makes their supposed guaranteed method sound more reliable, but what they are selling is not really a strategy.

The difference between a system and a strategy is that one specifically controls the wagering component of a game and the other relates to actual gameplay. For the purposes of clarifying that, think of the terms as ‘betting system’ and ‘gaming strategy’. For instance, in a regular game like checkers or chess, gaming strategy is how you move your pieces around on the board in order to win. A betting system relating to chess or checkers would be something like betting on who’s going to lose a piece next and saying, ‘every time I lose a piece, I’m going to raise my bet for the next turn. That way if they lose the next piece, I’ll win back what I just lost”.

Losing that piece makes a difference in terms of your strategy (after all, you no longer have that piece to move with and your opponent has changed their position) but you could continue playing the game and using strategy to win without ever changing your wager (as you would with a system). Occasionally you’d lose a piece and occasionally your opponent would. How you go about betting on the pieces in between does not change your gameplay strategy, only the amount of money you stand to win or lose. A person playing a game that is not being bet on and utilizes no money at all still uses strategy to win. A betting system only pertains to the amounts of the wagers when real money is being used to gamble on the game’s outcome. Do you see?

In a game like roulette or slots where betting is the only real aspect of gameplay, the line between the 2 can be still confusing. However, in roulette, for example, a player may place bets in different places on the board so as to cross wager and increase their odds of getting a payout. This would be a strategy. A system relating to roulette (and there are many) would be increasing or decreasing the amount of each wager depending on whether or not the previous spin was a winner. A legitimate strategy is something that everyone can use. In poker strategy plays a large part in determining who ultimately wins and takes home the jackpot. A betting system by comparison can never bring you more than temporary gain, and usually at the cost of large future loss.

This is what one person had to say about Betting Systems: “They all work. We’ve never lost long term on any of them. Of course when I say "we" I mean those of us who work in the casino. “ ~ Casino Manager

I’ll cover more on Betting Systems, how to spot them, and why you should avoid them in our next post.

 

 

Introducing Slots You Can Play With Your Friends and Fellow Gamblers

Slots started off as penny ‘fruit machines’ in local bars and pubs. The player would insert a penny or nickel, pull the handle, and hope the 3 reels would show a row of matching symbols. We’ve come a long way since then. Today’s slot machines offer multiple paylines, up to 243 ways to win, expanding wilds, bonus rounds, and reel re-spins, to name just a few of the innovative features and extras now offered. It was only a matter of time before someone realized that the one thing missing from slots, both online and in real establishments, was the ability to play it like almost any other game; namely, with friends.

This is when tournament play came in. Tournaments are a great way to play your favorite slot and compare your score against others. It creates more of the social atmosphere that is traditionally missing from most online gaming and slots specifically. We’ve written an article all about online slot tournaments, and why they’re a fun way to add variety to your online slot play, that you can read here: http://bestcanadiancasinos.ca/casino-bonus. However, now there’s yet another way to play against friends and family when gambling online. They’re multi-player slots, and bring the interactivity of tournaments to a whole new level.

Unlike with tournaments, multiplayer slots are more controlled and comprehensive. As with board games or video games with more than one player, these are slots that you share and play simultaneously with a few other players. Rather than being master of your own game and simply comparing your score to others at the end, you can see what the other players are doing and many times their actions affect your own outcomes. This opens up an entirely new realm of social interaction, as players can communicate with each other while playing against each other as well. It will feel like you’re standing right next to each other and playing on the same slot machine. Some slots require that you play against the other players, and in some you will need to cooperate- either to inc4rease your mutual wins or to activate features. And because the number of additional players is limited (usually between 4 and 10) you can invite the friends and fellow gamblers you know in real life to play with you.

Check with your favorite casino to see if they offer a multi-player slot online today. If not, never fear- more are sure to be on their way.

 

How Gambling Has Changed Since black Friday

 

Though more than a year has passed, it’s worth looking back at Black Friday in order to see what effect it has had on the online gambling community since it happened. Though Black Friday affected U.S. online poker sites specifically, the effect was on more than U.S. residents. There were many players in other countries that were personally affected, of course, and as gambling legislation in the States evolves there are also broader implications for the online gambling industry as a whole.

Prior to Black Friday, the U.S. was a messy free zone of antiquated law and unreliable methods of transactions. The Wire Act of 1961 apparently made internet gambling illegal and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 made it nearly impossible for banks to process any funds associated with gambling. However, poker was not (and still is not by many) considered the same as pure gambling because it requires a degree of skill and technique to play well. Online poker sites were extremely popular, as one of the only online gambling sources available, and raked in millions of dollars. Because gambling online was illegal, hence unregulated as an industry, and processing the funds was therefore also illegal, these companies had to get ‘creative’ in terms of how they conducted transactions. Moreover, they could get away with little business transparency because there were no formal rules to govern their practices.

Though the poker companies were eventually charged with money laundering and fraud, in a country with no firm distinction between poker and gambling, no rules governing online transactions conducted for one versus the other, and no legal body controlling the people and companies who could operate such online companies, something like Black Friday was bound to happen eventually. Millions of players were hit economically by the event, and many players have yet to receive the money that was rightfully theirs in casino bankrolls. Anti-gambling proponents have used Black Friday as a means to justify banning all gambling, citing it is an industry of criminals and damaging to society.

However, more good than bad has probably come from Black Friday in the end. For one thing, it became very apparent, even to the public outside of the gambling world that some kind of Federal ruling needed to be made on the subject. This was a classic example of what happened if you did not regulate a large and growing industry. The 1961 Wire Act has since been re-evaluated and the original ruling that it disallowed online gambling has been revoked. Now there’s a possibility for U.S. States to offer online casinos, if they so choose. Many U.S. politicians have come out in favor of online gambling as a means to rebuild the economy and generate much needed revenue. This means that the industry can be more tightly regulated, rogue casino operators can be properly identified, and winnings can be taxed. Taxable winnings means lighter regulations on banks, who will now be more readily able to process these funds (at least in states where gambling will be offered).

This has an impact on everyone outside the U.S. as well. A newly regulated jurisdiction means a greater amount of international business, as U.S. customers join the global market and foreign companies align themselves with U.S. developers. Existing companies will now better be able to serve both the new customers and the old, assuming they make wise choices in the next couple of years. Of course, some companies may be swallowed up as the industry continues to evolve. Still others may choose to forego joining in the U.S. market completely; especially as it appears that initially the market will be small and states will have the ability to form their own regulations and rules, which may differ from one state to the next.

Could this ultimately hurt or help the industry? Many other countries are also reforming their own laws. Some are becoming more open and accepting of online gambling, while still others are becoming even stricter. In the end, U.S. policy is going to have an impact on how online business operators conduct themselves and promote their casinos, but regional and country laws will vary for the rest of the world as well. Those will quite naturally take precedence.

 

Why Understanding Terms & Conditions is Important

 

This is a straight forward notion, but one that cannot be stressed enough. Over 60% of the time when there’s a problem cashing out winnings, it turns out to be the player’s fault because they didn’t read or understand the terms and conditions of the online casino where they were playing. A casino has the right to set forward whatever rules and restrictions they like. It’s their establishment, and they have every right to put forward their terms for letting you ‘in’ to play in their establishment. Some have conditions that are stricter to adhere to than others.

This is why it’s important that you read the terms and conditions through thoroughly beforehand. Once you sign up with that casino, you have entered into a binding agreement. They agree to provide the games and pay you money if you win. In exchange, you agree to abide by the rules of their establishment. If it turns out that you have mistakenly or inadvertently broken one of their rules during gameplay, then you’ve broken the “contract”. Once you’ve broken the contract between you and the casino, the casino operator is no longer obliged to keep their end of the bargain either. And most of the time, this means no winnings, and possibly even having your account closed.

As mentioned, some casinos have stricter rules than others. By reading the T&Cs; before you sign up an account, you can evaluate for yourself whether or not you can abide by the terms they’ve set forward. If the terms sound overly harsh or difficult to play by, find yourself another casino. Make sure you read through both the general T&Cs; and the T&Cs; of any specific bonus you want to claim. Many of these bonuses will have additional terms or requirements that must be met, and it’s important for you to know what these are so that you can claim anything you win with bonus credits.

A final consideration is that some online casinos are not completely up-front with how their T&Cs; are laid out or written. Some are confusing and others have clauses that are hidden on other pages or in fine print. These are not the casinos you want to be playing at. A good tip is to use a site like http://bestcanadiancasinos.ca/casino-bonus to find casinos that have received few complaints. There’s always going to be some people who are dissatisfied or feel like complaining, regardless of how fairly the casino is operated. However, fewer complaints are definitely an indicator that most people were able to understand the T&Cs; and abide by them; thus, most winners were able to withdraw their winnings without any problems.

For the record, all of the sites referred on our site are reputable casinos with easy to understand T&Cs.; However, we still encourage everyone to thoroughly read through everything before registering an account.

 

Games Other Than Slots That Meet Wagering Requirements

Slots are fun, engaging, and quite exciting if you’re on a lucky roll; but every once in a while everyone feels like trying something new. Even if you prefer a game that is luck based as opposed to skill based (i.e. poker), there are other games out there that you can try- usually for free if you aren’t sure you want to risk money on it at first. In the case of playing in ‘free’ mode, it really doesn’t matter which game you choose. You can feel free to try them all! However, in real-money mode, it’s worth noting that when you accept a bonus there are usually game restrictions on what you can play. Most casinos do not count traditional stud pokers, blackjack, or craps towards your wagering requirements. So what are some non-slot casino games that usually DO count towards these requirements?

The first is the most obvious: scratch cards. Scratch cards are the most like slots in that you have no control over what you’re going to get. They also come in interesting designs, themes, and attached to various jackpots or other prizes. A few of the most popular ones feature celebrity icons like Elvis, t.v. shows, and famous films. Others are themed around the holidays and have special prizes that correlate to that specific time of year. The thing about scratch cards is that the fun is pretty instantaneous, and you can eat up a bankroll on them pretty quickly.

Another game that usually counts toward wagering requirements is Keno. My advice is to stay away from this one. It can be fun but it has some of the worst odds in the industry. The house edge can range from anywhere between 25%-45%! Also, there are a few animated and interesting keno games out there, but by and large few people play them for long. This is because you lose so quickly on them. Since few people play it, game developers haven’t really had much incentive to come up with exciting new versions. Chances are, you’ll get bored pretty quickly.

A final one that is usually offered as a means of reaching a wagering requirement is Pai Gow poker. Don’t let the name fool you. You really don’t have to know much of anything about poker for this one. It relies far more heavily on luck. In pai gow, you are dealt 7 cards. You must then try to make the best 5 card hand and best 2 card hand out of these 7 cards. You do not get to discard any of them, nor will you be dealt any new cards. What you see is what you get. If you’ve got a pair, put them together. Get a bunch of the same suit- put them together. Have nothing at all? Put the highest card you can in each hand. One of the only real rules is that the 5 card hand must be better than the 2 card hand.

A player (or dealer) only wins if BOTH hands are better than the other person’s. This means that a great majority of the time, the result is a ‘push’. This means you had 1 hand that was better and the dealer had 1 hand that was better. Since you tied, no one wins. This means that even though the game is based largely on luck concerning the hand you are dealt, it also has very good odds- much better than scratch cards or keno. This makes it a great way to grind through a WR without risking your entire bankroll.

All in all, there are lots of fun games out there. If slots are starting to bore you or if you think you might be ready to try something new, give pai gow poker a try. It’s very absorbing once you get the hang of it.

 

Finding an Online Casino as a Mac User

Finding a reputable casino to play in as a U.S. player can be trying (though hopefully your options will increase by the end of the year) but what’s even more trying is finding a fun, safe casino online as a U.S. player with a Mac. Very few casino game developers have gotten around to designing platforms that are compatible with Macs. Of these, only one that I know of accepts U.S. players, but it only offers poker and we here at bestecasinospelonline.com have not been able to fully verify the security or business practices of the casinos involved. So how does a player with an apple device go about finding an online casino?

Well, if you type “online casinos for Mac” into your average search engine, you’re sure to get dozens of responses. Most of these will not explain what the differences between Mac and Windows versions are. Over at http://bonuscasino.ca/free-casino-bonus one blogger describes the plight of searching for casinos that offer a selection of games for Mac, and being disappointed. What it really comes down to is the difference between the games offered via flash or java through your browser, and the variety of games offered if you can download and install the casino on your hard drive. Believe it or not, as a Mac player you do have two options.

The first option is the easiest and most popular: sticking to the flash-based instant games. Let’s just state right now that there are usually FAR more games available in the download version. It’s also true that the majority of safe online casinos for U.S. players are powered by Real Time Gaming software and RTG is notorious for offering only a sampling of their portfolio as flash-based games. This is what most Mac users are left with, unless of course, they have an additional pc computer they can use for the online casino. Even a mini will suffice for this, as they are being offered with more internal space than ever and as programs go, online casinos take up a limited amount of HD space.

The second option, and the one you might not have thought of, is to install what’s known as a pc emulator on your Mac. With an emulator you can run windows and windows-based programs. Your Mac will, in emulator mode, function pretty much just like a regular pc. The problem with this option is that the emulator plus Windows program can be pretty hefty, so you’ll need a decent processor to run them at the same time you’re playing in the casino. The good news is, you’ll find an entire other world of games available to you if you can do this. Moreover, many casinos require that you download and install the software in order to play ‘live’ games, multiplayer games, and to compete in tournaments. They do not mean to be limiting, it’s just how the platforms for powering these sites are currently set to operate.

Whether or not you can afford a copy of Windows and want to invest the time and HD space to running an emulator depends entirely on the user. However, it completely changes the feel of gambling online- so if this is an option you hadn’t considered before now, you might want to look into it.

 

Knowing The Odds

 

Before you begin playing in an online casino, it’s important to know what the odds are. That is, what are the chances of you actually winning? There are a couple of ways to understand your odds. You can look at statistical data; mathematical formulas that arrive at conclusions like, “your odds of winning the lottery are 1 in 176 million” which is a little incomprehensible. You could then look to more informal fact sheets that state things such as, "compared with winning the lottery, you are 33 times as likely to be killed by bees” (according to this article in the LA times: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0330-mega-millions-20120330,0,3356135,full.story). Many people look at return to player percentages, which are informative when it comes to choosing a game wisely, but which do not tell you what the chances of you personally taking home cash are. They merely state the percentage that is taken home by people in general over a period of time.

The way that I evaluate my odds is by looking at the house edge. This is because calculating actual odds for any given game requires knowledge about the game rules, how many rounds or hands are being played, what combinations constitute wins, and other mathematical information that is difficult to understand. The house edge basically tells me how much more likely the casino is to win than I am. In a perfect zero-sum game, the casino would have a 50% chance of beating me and I would have a 50% chance of beating the house. However, if the house has an edge – say, of 5% - over me, then the new results are that I am likely to win only 46% of the time and the house is likely to win 55%. With each and every hand that gets played, I have a 55% chance of losing that hand (or spin or roll, etc.).

Another way to think of it is that for every $1 I wager, the house edge tells me how much I can expect to lose. A House Edge of 5% would amount to me losing about 5 cents per every dollar. Of course, this is how it averages out over the long term time for a typical gambler. In the short term there may be some very big wins or some very big losses, and in games like poker where skill is a determining factor, the odds change depending on the skill level. When looking at the house edge, the smaller it is the better. Think of it this way: would you rather lose 20 cents for every dollar or 5 cents (assuming the scenario that this is a game where you do not get especially lucky and take home a jackpot)?

So, how do the odds of many popular casino games add up? Well, our personal favorite, slots, have an extremely variable house edge. It depends on where you play it (online or off, and in which casino). On average the house edge for Slots is between 2-15%. That’s quite a large spread! You could be losing between 2 and 15 cents out of every dollar you wager. The thing about slot games is that the risk can be much greater but the potential rewards are usually much greater as well. In general, the slots with the best return to player percentages are going to be the ones with the lower house edge. How do other games compare?

Blackjack: .28%

Carribean Stud Poker: 5.22%

Craps: 1.36% - 16.67% (depending on bet type)

Keno: 25-29%

Pai Gow: 1.5%

Roulette: 2.7% (single 0) or 5.26% (double 0)

Video Poker (Jacks or Better): .46%

 

As you can see, blackjack is the game with the best house edge. Of course, blackjack doesn’t have a jackpot. So, unless you manage to win on a very large bet, you aren’t likely to take home a large sum of money. In the end, it’s up to the player to decide what game, and what odds, suit them best.

 

 

Understanding Progressive Jackpots

According to the Wiki page on slot machines, found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slot_machine, traditional slot machines (those in brick and mortar casinos) all started out by having a fixed jackpot system. This means that there is a set amount you can win (or a hierarchy of set amounts you can win) that is triggered by a specific series of symbols showing up on the reels. This amount never changes. If you get the correct combination on an active payline, you always win the amount specified for that combination. Many online slots operate in this same way. However, many online slots also have what are called Progressive Jackpots (PJ). By comparison, a PJ is a jackpot that is progressively growing until someone hits it. When the jackpot is won, the value of the jackpot resets to a predetermined baseline and starts to grow all over.

The way progressive jackpots operate is simple in concept. As players place their bets on a particular slot connected to the jackpot network, a small portion of each bet is put toward the progressive jackpot. This amount is very small but as more and more players play, it quickly accumulates. As long as there are players making wagers on a connected online slot this amount will continue to grow until the PJ is hit. This can happen by getting the winning combination of symbols as in traditional slots, randomly, or by playing through a specially designed bonus level. There is no limit to how high the PJ can grow before it is struck; so while wins are extremely rare, they are usually much, much larger than that of any fixed jackpot.

There are several different types of progressive jackpots, and knowing how they operate can help you determine which you would like to play on. The first is a shared PJ. A shared progressive is when one jackpot is shared a number of different online slots games. An example would be when 2 players are on different slots (Cleopatra’s Gold & Lion’s Lair, for example)but both have the opportunity to win the same jackpot. The advantage of this type of PJ is that you aren’t forced to play on a single game to compete for the biggest payout.

The second type is a multi-level jackpot. This means that there are several jackpots that can be hit from the same game. As players wager on a slot with this type of jackpot system, the portion of their wager that would go toward the PJ is dispersed among several jackpots. To illustrate this point: say a player places a $1 bet on a slot and out of this .06 cents is put toward the jackpots. 3 cents would go to the ‘Grand’ jackpot, 2 cents to the mid-level jackpot, and 1 cent to the smallest jackpot. This means that each jackpot is growing, but at different rates. The smaller jackpot will be the easiest of the 3 to hit.

The final common type of progressive is a combination of the 2. This means there is a system of several progressive jackpots, growing at different rates, that can be hit by playing on one of a variety of games that are all connected to the same jackpot system. For obvious reasons, this is these are the most popular, as there are multiple jackpots that can be hit and the broadness of the network of games ensures that the jackpot grows very high very quickly.

Progressive jackpots aren’t for everyone. Many of them require that you bet the max at all times to be eligible for the grand prize. But when it comes to winning big, no other jackpot is likely to compare to a PJ hit. You can check out one of our favorite review sites for slots, https://bonuscasino.ca, for more information on the coolest slots online that offer progressive jackpots.