Before You Play Mega Moolah Consider This - Drawbacks of Playing Mega Moolah

Mega Moolah is the most popular internet slot of all time. It’s no wonder why when considering that this Microgaming slot has paid out the biggest jackpot in online slots history at $20 million. In fact, as I write this, Mega Moolah has an $18.8 million jackpot and is fast approaching the record.

Given that the sheer amount of money that you stand to win with this game, it’s no wonder why so many people play Mega Moolah. But before you go joining the jackpot party, it’s important to know the full story on this highly popular game. I’m going to discuss 7 warnings that you should consider before playing Mega Moolah. After reading these warnings, you may have an entirely different opinion about this slot.

1 – Mega Moolah RTP Is Terrible

The biggest problem with Mega Moolah is its return to player (RTP). This game only offers base payback of 88.1%.

That means you’ll only win back $88.10 for every $100 wagered on average. Here’s an example on how much this would cost you over the long term:

You make the minimum $0.25 bet on Mega Moolah.
You make 600 spins per hour.
600 x 0.25 = $150
150 x 0.119 = $17.85 in hourly losses
You play Mega Moolah for five hours.
5 x 17.85 = $89.25 In theoretical losses for the session.

This is all the worse when considering that most online slots offer RTP ranging from 94% to 97%. Your theoretical losses with Mega Moolah are around 2-3 times what you’d experience with most games. It’s worth mentioning that Mega Moolah’s payback increases along with the different jackpot sizes (there are four total jackpots). You’ll theoretically win more over the long run when accounting for this huge payout.

But the catch is that you actually have to win a share of the top prize to enjoy the higher payback. Considering that only one person can win the top Mega Moolah jackpot at a time, earning shares is impossible. Therefore, the average player will be facing 88.1% RTP when playing this game. 88.1% payback is bad for a land based slot machine – let alone an online game.

2 – You Have Low Odds of Winning the Mega Jackpot

As mentioned above, a notable portion of Mega Moolah’s payback is wrapped up in the progressive jackpot. Any rise in the base 88.1% RTP is tied to the largest jackpot’s value. Unfortunately, you’re unlikely to win this prize. The chances of hittingMega Moolah’s jackpot are extremely low.

How low the is uncertain, because Microgaming has never released the actual odds of winning. But I can make a vague estimate on your low chances with some math. I’m going to assume that every Mega Moolah bet contributes 2% to the Major progressive jackpot, which is common within the gaming industry.

Now, on to an example of your jackpot odds:

The Mega Moolah top jackpot payout is $5.4 million.
5,400,000 / 0.02 (contribution) = $270,000,000 must be wagered to hit the jackpot.
You make the $0.25 minimum bet.
270,000,000 x 0.25 = 1,080,000,000
You theoretically make 1.08 billion wagers to win the jackpot with $0.25 bets.

You’d actually have even worse per-spin odds than 1 in 1.08 billion when considering that minimum bets have a lower chance of winning the jackpot (discussed later). Another way to view this is by looking at the jackpot odds on Las Vegas’ Megabucks slot machine. Megabucks requires $3 minimum bets and typically pays progressive jackpots worth about twice the size of Mega Moolah.

The odds of winning this prize are 1 in 49,836,032. If we halve these odds to honor the jackpot comparison, Mega Moolah would give you 1 in 24,918,016 odds of winning the top payout with $3 bets. Any way you slice it, you must make countless spins to win the jackpot. Either that, or you have to get extremely lucky.

3 – You’re More Likely to Win the Small Jackpot

I mentioned earlier that this slot offers four different progressive jackpots, including the Mega, Major, Minor, and Mini prizes. It’s certainly nice that you can play for four jackpots with every spin. But the size disparity in each of these payouts is huge.

Here are the typical disparities between all of the payouts:

Mega jackpot = $10,000,000
Major jackpot = $100,000
Minor jackpot = $2,000
Mini jackpot = $200

The biggest reason why everybody plays Mega Moolah is the dream of hitting the Mega jackpot. This prize always offers a life-changing amount of money, including the current $18.9 million value. Most players would also be extremely happy to win the Major payout. And many gamblers would certainly take the Minor prize too. Unfortunately, the odds of you winning any of the top three payouts are very low. You’re most likely to win the Mini jackpot.

I’m sure you’d be perfectly fine with winning a $200 payout multiple times. But Mini jackpots aren’t the main reason for playing this game. You likely envision hitting the Mega jackpot and pampering yourself afterward. However, the more-common scenario is that you’re playing for the Mini prize and a chance to win$100-$200.

4 – You Must Trigger the Bonus Round to Win Jackpots

Many online slots pay the progressive jackpot through the main game. In other words, you land the required number of specific symbols in a payline and hit the top prize. For example, you might need to get five yacht symbols in a line to win the progressive jackpot. Mega Moolah differs, though, because you have to trigger a bonus round before you can play for the jackpots. This leaves an additional layer between you and winning any of the four progressive payouts.

You may have no problem with having to trigger the bonus round first. But many slots players prefer having a chance to win top payouts with every spin. Perhaps the fact that you have to unlock the bonus round before being able to win a jackpot is a major reason why this game only offers 88.1% base payback.

5 – You Must Bet More to Have a Stronger Chance of Triggering the Bonus

The nice thing about Mega Moolah is that every spin qualifies you for a chance at the progressive jackpots. You only have to wager one cent on all 25 lines to qualify. This isn’t much to bet on a single spin in the grand scheme of internet slots. After all, I’ve played plenty of online slots that have 50-100 lines and require you to use every one ($0.50-$1).

But the problem comes in when many players believe that they have the same chance to win as high rollers when they’re only wagering a quarter per spin. Therefore, a player who’s wagering $5 per spin has a stronger chance of hitting the jackpot than you do betting $0.25 per round. Again, you still have an opportunity to win the jackpot when you’re only risking the minimum wager. But you also have to consider that your odds of winning any of the progressive prizes are lower than higher bettors.

Another problem is that you won’t truly know exactly how high or low your chances of winning the top payout are with minimum bets. This is another stat that Microgaming keeps under wraps. The best you can do is bet as much as you feel comfortable with and simply know that your odds of winning aren’t as high as those who risk more per line.

6 – Mega Moolah’s Odds Are Murky

One overall theme I’ve covered is that Mega Moolah’s odds are shrouded in mystery. You don’t know your chances of winning the jackpot, and you also don’t know how your bet size relates to your odds. I’m not saying that Mega Moolah is the first online slots to have veiled odds of winning. In fact, few internet slots are an open book beyond their RTP.

But considering that Mega Moolah is widely regarded as the most popular online slot, it would be nice if Microgaming did make all of the odds available one day. As it is now, we can only make educated guesses on the chances of winning the jackpot. This isn’t like the Megabucks land-based slots, where the jackpot odds are publicly available information.

The math I did in the second point shows that you have 1 in 1.08 billion odds hitting a jackpot with minimum bets. But the truth is that your chances are even worse when factoring in the lower odds for $0.25 wagers.

7 – Many Countries Can’t Play Mega Moolah

If you’re still interested in playing this slot after reading the first six warnings, keep in mind that you may not be able to play Mega Moolah at all. Microgaming mainly operates in prestigious licensing jurisdictions. That said, they don’t offer Mega Moolah or any other slots to countries with grey online gaming markets like the United States.

This isn’t such a bad thing when considering that Microgaming’s prestigious licensing inspires more trust. Furthermore, all Microgaming slots must undergo third-party testing to ensure fair gaming in markets like the UK. But the problem with sticking to prestigious jurisdictions is that Microgaming restricts a large number of countries and territories.

Here’s a look at the many countries/territories that are restricted from playing Mega Moolah for real money:

United States
Algeria
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Belgium
Benin
Bulgaria
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Cambodia
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
China
Cote d’lvoire

Cuba
Cyprus
Denmark
Dijbouti
Equatorial Guinea
Estonia
Ethiopia
France
French Guiana
Gabon
Gambia
Greece
Greenland
Guadelupe
Haiti

Hong Kong
India
Iran
Mongolia
North Korea
Philippines
Poland
Sudan
Suriname
Swaziland
Thailand
Togo
United Arab Emirates
Uruguay

Microgaming still operates in a fair number of countries. But you can also see that they restrict numerous places from enjoying their slots.

Should You Still Play Mega Moolah Slot?

Everything I’ve covered so far puts Mega Moolah in a negative light. But does this mean that you should avoid this classic internet slot? Not necessarily. Mega Moolah still has a number of qualities that make it worth playing if you’re in a non-restricted country.

The main thing to love is that this game offers more money than any internet slot on a regular basis. The average Mega Moolah jackpot is worth nearly $5.4 million. You’ll find plenty of other online slots that offer seven figure prizes. In fact, NetEnt’s Mega Fortune once paid a jackpot that was almost worth the same as Moolah’s record prize. But no slot compares to Mega Moolah today in terms of the average jackpot value. You’re almost always guaranteed to play for a life-changing amount. Another thing to like about this slot is how you’re playing for four different jackpots at once.

Obviously everybody wants to win the Mega jackpot. But the Major prize also offers a significant amount of money. The Minor jackpot is worth more than the top prize in some other online slots. It’s a bonus that you can also play for a Mini payout that’s typically worth $100 or more. Earlier I bashed Mega Moolah’s base payback of 88.1%. But this slot can theoretically offer over 100% payback when the jackpot is worth enough.

It’s unknown how much the jackpot needs to be worth to offer over 100% RTP. But it’s very possible that you could look forward to this theoretical payback when the jackpot is at $10 million or higher. One more thing to like about Mega Moolah is its classic African wildlife theme. This game isn’t just popular for its jackpot, but also the fun theme involving lions, elephants, monkeys, and zebras.

The key is to make sure that you’re able to play Mega Moolah. Microgaming restricts a lot of countries from enjoying its slots, because they operate in elite jurisdictions. But if you’re in a country/territory that can play Mega Moolah and you love big jackpots, then it’s worth giving this game a few spins.

Conclusion

Few online slots are as beloved as Mega Moolah. This game’s huge jackpot and long-running popularity have made it one of the industry’s most widely played games. However, you should look beyond the sheer jackpot size towards the other qualities of this game. You’ll find that not everything is perfect with Mega Moolah, including low base payback, murky odds, and slim chances of hitting the top prize.

I especially hate the 88.1% payback, which is about 6-9% lower than what most other online slots offer. This means that you’ll be losing $6-$9 more on average when playing Mega Moolah. The key thing to consider is whether chasing a massive jackpot is worth accepting lower payback. If so, then by all means enjoy this fun African Savanna themed slot.

You also have to accept that you’re likely never going to hit the jackpot. I know that the dream of winning provides many thrills, but the hard reality is that only one in several million players is going to experience this joy. Assuming you’re not fine with lower odds, then you can find many other slots that feature 95% RTP and give you a stronger chance of winning the jackpot.

Sure, most of these jackpots aren’t worth anywhere near what Mega Moolah offers. But winning back more money allows you to sustain your bankroll longer and get more entertainment out slots. Everything comes down to what you value most. Assuming you love going after a huge jackpot above all, Mega Moolah is a fine choice for this purpose.