As online slots fans we’re all aware that we spin the reels for a variety of reasons; winning money is one of the main draws but over the years we’ve noticed that the pursuit of winnings can often be secondary to the enjoyment of playing the games.  That’s the reason so many people play for tiny stakes – your bankroll lasts longer so your playing time is extended but the potential winnings are of course smaller.

There are those players though who fixate on the jackpots and there’s nothing wrong with that.  In this article we’re going to discuss the types of jackpots available and if there’s anything you can do to increase you chances of winning them.

Fixed Jackpots

The fixed jackpot is the most common type of big prize and features on slots which are both progressive and non-progressive.  It’s not linked to any sort of progressive network and to win it you’ll be relying on a fortunate spin of the reels.  Wild symbols are usually the key to these jackpots and the largest tend to offer around 10,000x the line bet, although that multiple may be smaller if the possible line bets are bigger.

So the question is whether there’s anything you can do to to help land that win?  Our experience tells is that there really isn’t any way to influence these types of jackpots.  The nature of fixed jackpots means they are tied to the percentage payout return of each machine which means that over time, the average return to the player is stable at around 94% – 97%.

Progressive Jackpots

Progressive jackpots are of course the prizes we all want to win; whole networks of online slots are linked together and small percentages of each stake contribute towards some gigantic rewards.  Millions of pounds are regularly available for the luckiest players and they can be won in different way.

There are progressive jackpots that are triggered by landing the correct symbols but these tend be the minority; more popular are those like the Marvel slots which offer the jackpots randomly.  We say it’s random but actually here it’s possible to influence your chances to a small degree.  Higher stakes will give you a better chance of being awarded entry into the jackpot game and this is of course fair – if this wasn’t the case everyone would play with tiny stakes with the same chance of winning.

So can you influence your jackpot chances?  Yes you can, but only with progressive jackpots and be prepared to increase your stake to maximise your chances.