WJ2 Progressive Slots Versus a Fixed Top Prize

Progressive slots pay a jackpot that is built up from play, while every other top prize on a slot is a number printed in the rules. If you want to know which kind you are looking at, the whole question comes down to one test: does the prize change between two spins, or does it stay a fixed multiple of your stake? The wider map of slot types sits on the slot machine games overview, and this page covers the jackpot side of it.

How a progressive jackpot works

A progressive jackpot is a prize pool. A small share of each qualifying stake is added to it, so the figure on screen climbs as people play, and when someone hits it the pool drops back to its starting level and begins to grow again. The money in the pool therefore comes from the stakes of the players on the linked games, not from a fixed prize table.

The sequence runs in three steps:

1. Players stake on the linked games and a share of each stake goes to the pool.
2. The pool grows until a spin triggers the jackpot.
3. The winner is paid the pool and it resets to its starting level.

Because the pool moves, a progressive jackpot is a different size every time you look. That is the opposite of how a fixed prize behaves.

Nothing about the pool changes the return rule of the underlying game. The studio sets how a jackpot is triggered, and the game’s info screen states the rule. This site quotes no pool size and no contribution rate, because both belong to the game and change with play.

Fixed top prize versus progressive: the comparison

Every maximum win in this site’s game data is a fixed figure, and none is a progressive pool. A progressive prize cannot be stated as a multiple, because the amount you receive depends on the pool on the day it is hit.

Fixed maximum wins you can read today

A fixed maximum win scales with your stake, so you can work out the peso figure before you spin. As a labelled example, a stake of ₱10 on a title with a 5000x maximum has a ceiling of 10 × 5000 = ₱50,000. The figures below are the studios’ own published maximums as held in this site’s data.

Compare any two rows by picking the same stake: at ₱10, Fortune Gems tops out at 10 × 375 = ₱3,750, while Gates of Olympus tops out at ₱50,000. Open the game’s info screen on the lobby to confirm a title’s own figure before you rely on it.

Slot machine jackpot: what the label can mean

The words “slot machine jackpot” cover three situations. The first is a fixed top prize, a multiple that is always the same. The second is a set of named fixed tiers, and the third is a true progressive pool.

Wolf Gold from Pragmatic Play is a named example of the second: it carries three fixed jackpots called mini, major and mega, which are fixed prizes and not a growing pool. Where a game pairs a feature like that with a header reading “jackpot”, read the rules to see which of the three it is.

Grand jackpot: the top tier is not always the biggest number

A grand jackpot is the highest tier a game names. On a fixed-tier game the grand tier is a set multiple, and on a progressive game it is the pool at its top level. The name alone tells you nothing about size, so compare it against the stated maximum win in the game’s own rules.

Wolf Gold’s grand tier is its mega jackpot, which is a fixed prize. To check any game’s grand tier, follow these steps.

1. Write down the grand tier’s multiple, if it has one.
2. Multiply it by your stake to get the peso figure.
3. Compare that figure with the game’s stated maximum win.
4. If the game shows a running amount instead of a multiple, you are looking at a progressive pool.

The related maximum cashout meaning page explains the separate ceiling that a withdrawal can carry.

Jackpot types in the Slots menu

You can sort what you meet in the Slots menu into three jackpot types.

1. Fixed top prize. A stated multiple of your stake, as in Gates of Olympus at 5000x.
2. Fixed tiers. Named prizes such as mini, major and mega, each a set amount or multiple.
3. Progressive pool. A live amount that grows with play and resets after a win.

Open Slots, pick the studio, and read the game’s info screen to see which type applies. Pace matters as much as prize type, and the turbo spin speed page shows how quickly stakes add up. For how grids and features differ between games, see the video slots grids and paylines page.