History of Jackpots

When you think about progressive jackpots almost the first reaction is that, well, they have been around forever haven’t they?

The actual fact is far from it since progressive jackpot machines are a recent innovation that was developed in the 1980s and since that time they have skyrocketed to fame.

The reasons why are simple, since individuals in some cases have won more than $30 million dollars. This shows that the amounts you can win while playing at a casino have now gone through the roof. Not just that, but more and more players are winning progressive jackpots repeatedly as they learn the secrets and strategy of this lucrative competition.

Traditionally, progressive jackpots were reserved for nickel and dime slots but casinos looked for a way to attract yet even more people. While slots were drawing in millions of players each year in the gaming strips at Las Vegas, the new progressive jackpot competitions brought a new excitement and thrill to the game and it worked.

Shortly after the first gaming manufacturer invented the progressive jackpot machine, many competitors soon followed and it was no longer just a battle between standalone slot machines, but one between progressive jackpots.

Earlier progressive machines were single machines which featured a rollover style jackpot, but as time grew on and as the electronic age rapidly approached, the first truly networked jackpot appeared.

After that, more progressively linked games started to show up such as video poker which appeared in casinos alongside the likes of progressive roulette, blackjack and many others.

As time went on, the casinos began to realize that they could run super progressive competitions that were not just focused around one casino but over many. Jackpot amounts soared yet again and before long million dollar prizes became the norm.

Thanks in no small part to electronics and the internet, jackpots have developed yet again into the high-tech machines that you see today. With countless progressive jackpots now on offer with prizes of between $100 and $40 million there is not only a wide choice in jackpot competitions but also in jackpot games.

The internet really did explode the online jackpot revolution and while the real-life casinos still have the upper hand when it comes to prize amounts, online jackpots are now the more popular with thousands of players often competing each day to win the prize.

Slots, blackjack, roulette, video poker, Caribbean stud and even video keno are all examples of games which have variations that were designed for online jackpots.

They are also appearing at casinos, with blackjack, roulette and video poker appearing right along side the penny and dime slot machines that made this competition for the grand prize so famous in the first place.

The age of jackpots is here to stay and with many, many jackpots being won each day there is certainly no decline in the popularity of this highly thrilling game as well as the number of jackpots that are on offer.

While not perhaps a game in its own right, jackpots offer many people the opportunity to win big by having a go at this incredibly enjoyable competition.