Slot Machine Jackpot Trackers – How Can You Use This to Get an Edge?

The slots world features two main types of jackpots: static and progressive.

A static jackpot is one that never increases or decreases from its original starting amount. A static payout worth 10,000 coins will always be worth this amount, regardless of how many people play.

No work is required to figure out how much a static jackpot is worth, because the value always stays the same. Progressive slots jackpots, on the other hand, are a different story.

A progressive jackpot takes small amounts of each wager to seed the top prize. The longer a progressive prize goes unclaimed, the higher it grows. Players become more excited as progressive jackpots continue building. The only problem, though, is keeping track of these prizes and how much they’re worth.

A slots jackpot tracker helps you monitor the sizes and other information regarding each progressive payout. Keep reading as I cover what a jackpot tracker is along with how you can use these tools to choose progressive payouts.

What Is a Slots Jackpot Tracker?

A slots jackpot tracker is a website that tracks the different jackpots throughout the industry. Upon visiting one of these sites, you’ll see different progressive jackpot values along with the developers.

Here’s an example of what an online jackpot tracker displays:

Jackpot Giant (Playtech) – $12,272,180 jackpot
Mega Moolah (Microgaming) – $6,310,748
Mega Fortune Mega (NetEnt) – $4,871,431
Jackpot King (Blueprint) – $4,321,781
Aladdin’s Lamp (GTECH) – $3,842,194
Joker Millions (Yggdrasil) – $3,321,093
Shopping Spree (Realtime Gaming) – $2,932,193

The first takeaway here is that you can find out how much different jackpots are worth. Slots jackpot trackers update on a regular basis, allowing you to get a real-time view on each prize’s value.

Finding updated jackpot values in one place saves you a lot of time. You don’t have to visit various casinos and open each game individually just to see how much a progressive prize is worth.

Instead, all you must do is visit a tracker site to check how much various jackpots are worth. The updated values ensure that you always get accurate info too.

Knowing the game developer behind each slot is also helpful. You can visit casinos that offer relevant software to find the progressive slots you want.

Here’s an example:

You want to play Jackpot King.
You find an online casino that features Blueprint software.
The casino should offer Jackpot King among its slots selection.

Tracking progressive slots jackpots isn’t just relegated to online prizes. Certain land-based slots developers also offer trackers on their progressive jackpots.

IGT’s website features a section that tracks all of their progressive payouts. You can find jackpot values for some of their biggest games here, including Megabucks, Wheel of Fortune, Poker Bucks, Money Madness, and more.

The only problem with land-based slots jackpot trackers is that they don’t encompass a variety of games.

IGT can connect land-based jackpot values to their website. But they can’t do the same for another company like, say, Aristocrat.

Furthermore, it wouldn’t make sense for IGT to worry about posting progressive payout values from another company. And since affiliates don’t make money from promoting land-based slot machines, it doesn’t make sense for them to put this effort in either.

Anybody who wants to track the biggest land-based jackpots from a variety of developers needs to physically visit casinos and record the prize values. Contrast this to online slots, where jackpot information is all recorded online. Therefore, internet jackpot trackers can offer updated values on payouts from all over the industry.

Considering that online progressive jackpot trackers are more prevalent, most of this discussion focuses on internet slots payouts.

How Do You Use Slots Jackpot Trackers?

Not all slot jackpot tracking sites are the same. Some only offer minimal information, while others feature options that allow you to sort through different jackpots.

The latter is preferable, because options allow you to better find and play for desired jackpots. Here’s an example:

You want to play for smaller progressive payouts to have a better chance at winning.
You click the “value” option to sort from smallest to largest.
You select Paris slot from RTG, because the jackpot payout is only worth $1,229.

You can easily reverse this process and hunt for the biggest progressive prizes. Simply sort jackpot values from largest to smallest and look at the top of the list.

Most players will find that using progressive slots trackers is a simple process. The only challenge comes with knowing how to use the various information.

Certain trackers offer detailed info, such as a hot/cold meter, average win size, biggest win, smallest win, average time between wins, and where the jackpot was last won. Not all of these details are self-explanatory to a new player.

Here’s a brief explanation on some data that you’ll come across at different sites:

Wins recorded – How many times a progressive game’s jackpot has been hit in its existence.
Average win size – The average payout when a jackpot is hit.
Biggest win – Largest recorded payout for a particular slot.
Smallest win – Smallest recorded payout for a particular slot.
Average time between wins – Average amount of time in between when a progressive jackpot pays out.
Recent win – The last time that a progressive prize has paid out.
Hot/cold (a.k.a. hotness) meter – Hot indicates that a jackpot has paid out frequently in recent times; cold indicates the opposite.
Hit at [casino] – The last online casino where a particular jackpot was hit.

You won’t find all of this info under one site. But understanding every stat ensures that you’ll know how to use jackpot trackers wherever you visit.

You’ll find that some stats are more important than others. I personally find that the average win size and time in between wins are especially helpful.

The average win size offers a nice indication on when a jackpot will pay. Here’s an example:

WGS Technology’s Ultimate 10x slot currently has a jackpot worth $8,932.
The average win size on this progressive payout is $10,234.
The average win indicates that Ultimate 10x could hit soon.

Of course, this by no means guarantees that Ultimate 10x will pay out any time soon. But average payout size gives you a ballpark figure on when to expect the jackpot might be hit.

The average time between wins alludes to how frequently a progressive prize is won. For example, Playtech’s Age of the Gods Ultimate Power might hit every six weeks.

If Age of the Gods Ultimate Power paid the jackpot three weeks ago, then you can reasonably assume that it could hit within the next three weeks.

Nothing is ever given with online slots, because everything is governed by random number generators. But knowing the average payouts and time between wins helps you estimate what to expect with a jackpot.

Where Do You Find Jackpot Trackers?

The easiest way to find jackpot tracking sites is by googling relevant phrases like “slots jackpot trackers,” “jackpot trackers,” and “progressive jackpot trackers.”

You can of course use other phrases to search for progressive prize values. But I find that these are some of the best in terms of finding the relevant info. After running a search, you can visit different sites to see what they offer in terms of info. The best trackers offer a broad range of information that leads you to the type of jackpots you’re looking for.

If you’re searching for a prize that’s paid frequently in recent months/years, then you’ll need a tracking size with a hot/cold meter. If you want to know what casinos see the most jackpot wins, then find a tracking site with a field for “hit at.”

How Do You Get the Most Out of a Jackpot Tracker?

Each progressive slots player may value something different from the next person. Some players only care about spinning for the world’s biggest jackpots, while others value high odds of winning.

Revert back to the section on using jackpot trackers to figure out what’s most important on a personal level. I explained earlier that my personal favorite jackpot stats are the average time between wins and average payout size.

You may look at things differently and highly value the hot/cold meter or playing progressive slots from a certain game developer. No preference is wrong when choosing progressive jackpots. You just need to make sure to find tracker sites that offer what you covet the most.

Run several or more Google searches and browse different tracking sites to see if they have what you’re searching for.

Always Make Sure That You Qualify for a Progressive Slots Jackpot

One of the most-overlooked aspects of progressive payouts is knowing how to qualify for them. Some players make the mistake of spinning the reels right away without knowing the jackpot qualification rules.

The help screen should be your first stop upon choosing a new progressive slot. This screen shows you both the general game rules along with info on the jackpot.

Here are examples of different jackpot qualification rules:

Play every payline.
Bet the max coin size.
Make a side jackpot wager.
Trigger the bonus round, where the jackpot can be won.
Win on a specific payline – e.g. certain Playtech slots require lining up five symbols on the 20th payline.

Many modern slots offer what are referred to as “random progressive” jackpots. This term refers to how the jackpot can be won randomly on any spin, regardless of the coin size or symbol combination.

Most of these games require that you play every payline. If there are 25 lines, then you must make a $0.25 minimum wager to qualify.

Some of the older slots have funkier jackpot qualification rules, such as the Playtech one mentioned above. These are the cases where it pays to check the help screen and ensure that you’re meeting the necessary jackpot qualifications.

Conclusion

Perhaps you’re happy playing for the progressive payouts offered at your favorite online casino. But if you want to expand your horizons and play for other progressive payouts, then slots jackpot trackers are very helpful tools.

These websites feature useful information like the jackpot value, game developer, and average time in between payouts, average win size, most-recent win, and more. The idea is to use all of this info to choose progressive slots that best match your tastes.

Some players love going for the biggest prizes available. Others want to go for a medium-sized payout ($10k to $50k) and have stronger odds of winning.

As long as you know how to use jackpot tracking size, then you won’t have any trouble finding what you’re looking for.