Megabucks are slots with progressive jackpots, combined into a single network that covers casinos in several American states. The owner and operator of this network is International Game Technology, better known by its abbreviated name IGT.

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2. Progressive jackpot slots set aside a small percentage of each coin played to add to the overall jackpot. That means that with every game played the jackpot increases until someone has won the jackpot, making progressive slot machines capable of reaching exceptionally high jackpot amounts as long as there is no jackpot.

Megabucks slot is considered as an alternative to state lotteries and enjoys incredible popularity among Americans. Actually, there is an opinion that IGT specifically released it to create a lottery competition. Since the beginning of the eighties in the twentieth century, when the slot was launched for the first time, this slot made dozens of players millionaires.

Thanks to the skillfully organized advertising company, every Megabucks jackpot, when it reaches a considerable size, causes a real excitement among the gambling public. And every hit of the progressive jackpot is widely covered in the media, attracting even more casino visitors to the slot. No other slot in the world is overgrown with so many incredible myths, rumors, and legends. But with all this, there are a lot of gambling experts and just experienced players who consider Megabucks a hideous slot that absolutely does not deserve so much attention. So, who is right: fans or opponents of this slot?

Where to Play the Megabucks Slot

Try the Progressive Slots listed here – some progressive jackpots are random, some require a combination of special symbols. You can also find games that have a regular jackpot besides a progressive one, along with free spins or bonus rounds that make them more entertaining. Progressive jackpots in Nevada are some of the richest gambling jackpots in the world, offering you the chance to be able to make a huge return on your stake without having to alter the way that you play your chosen game.

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How to Play Megabucks

The classic version of the Megabucks slot from IGT is a 3-reel slot machine with the only one payline. In order to qualify for a progressive jackpot, the player must definitely bet three dollars. There are a lot of stories (both true and fictitious) about casino customers, who had the jackpot combination, but they did not receive any jackpot because of a bet less than three dollars.

The progressive jackpot is not completely nullified when a lucky winner gets it but starts to grow from a certain amount. In recent years, this fixed amount is $10,000,000. There are persistent rumors that soon this initial sum of the jackpot should increase by one million.

Megabucks Slot Odds

Strange as it may seem, there is no official information about the probability of winning the Megabucks jackpot. Some casinos say that the player has one chance out of 50 million, while others claim that this is one chance of 17 million. Whatever it was, when the sum of the jackpot is large enough, fans of this slot are ready to fly thousands of kilometers to try their luck.

What do Lady Luck’s favorites have from this slot? Do they get all that huge amount of money that is advertised? When you win a jackpot, events can unfold as follows. First of all, the lucky guy will receive a check for $1,400,000. Then the winner is given two or three months to decide how he wants to get his winnings. There are two options: the amount is divided into annual payments, which will be transferred to the player within twenty-five years, or he can get the winnings immediately at a time, but at a rate of 60% of the jackpot.

That is, having won ten million, the winner can receive in the second variant only six million, but at once and with one payment. After receiving the win, he still has to pay taxes. Unsurprisingly, almost all holders of Megabucks jackpots prefer to receive their winnings in the form of annual payments.

However, in this case, they also have to pay taxes, the Internal Revenue Service of the United States (IRS) very strictly follows this. Subtract from the total amount of the jackpot another 40%, because such winnings are taxed at the maximum rate. So, the next time you hear that someone has won ten million in Megabucks and immediately took all the money, you know that the lucky guy got a little over three and a half million at his disposal.

The Curse of the Megabucks Jackpot

As already mentioned above, there are a lot of urban legends about the Megabucks slot and its jackpot, mostly of a gloomy nature. For the most part, they describe the tragic fate of players who managed to win a huge jackpot. It is believed that almost all the lucky people either perish or suffer numerous woes. The cause of their numerous misfortunes is the so-called Curse of the Megabucks slot.

Of course, in these stories, there is much more fiction than the truth. However, there is no smoke without fire — some winners, really, seriously suffered after they won the jackpot. In particular, the further life of the waitress Cynthia J. Brennan, who won $34.9 million in 2000, was sad. A month and a half after the win, Cynthia and her sister were hit by a drunk driver. The sister died on the spot, and Cynthia was forever paralyzed. The guy who drove the car in a state of intoxication was imprisoned for twenty-eight years.

But the rumors about the curse of Megabucks spread even before the year 2000. Simply, this accident was widely covered in the press and made people remember about other similar events, which at that time did not become so resonant. In 2003, many media published a story about a 25-year-old player who became the owner of the Megabucks jackpot and either died from a drug overdose in a casino hotel or was killed in a street shootout. IGT companies had to work hard to convince the public of the falsity of these statements.

There are also a lot of rumors about underage players and employees of different casinos who won the Megabucks jackpot but could not get it due to existing rules. But none of these rumors received documentary evidence.

Many experts in the field of gambling suggest that ITG recently made relevant changes to the Megabucks system, which makes the jackpot play less often, but with larger amounts. Although officially the company claims that nothing of the sort has happened, this opinion remains very popular.

Where Could You Play Megabucks?

Most fans of slot machines and large jackpots are not afraid of the curse of Megabucks and are willing to play in this slot. You can find this slot in almost all real casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, as well as in other establishments in Nevada, California, New Jersey, Mississippi, and some Indian reservations. Each state has its own separate network of Megabucks slots, but the biggest progressive jackpots are expected in Nevada. In other states, jackpots are much smaller.

Why do Experts Consider Megabucks a Bad Slot?

Experts do not believe in the curse of the Megabucks slot, but this does not stop them from considering this gambling machine not worthy of attention. The fact is that this slot is very unprofitable for the player. Firstly, it has an extremely high percentage of the casino advantage, which reaches 10-15% (for comparison, many slots in the Las Vegas casino are limited to 2-3%). Secondly, the procedure for paying a jackpot is extremely inconvenient. The winner either loses 40% of the amount or gets it in parts for 25 years. But the progressive jackpots of most other slots are paid immediately and in full.

All this suggests that Megabucks is a mediocre slot, which gained its popularity only thanks to record payments and a masterly organized PR campaign.

See Also

Stand-alone and linked progressives

There are basically two types of progressive slots at land-based casinos across the US:

• Stand-alone progressives
• Linked progressives

Stand-alone progressives are single slot machines with a progressive jackpot.

A piece of every dollar put in the machine goes into a progressive jackpot that is contained on that machine. That means only money put in that specific machine goes into that jackpot and only someone playing on that machine can win that jackpot.

Linked progressives are different in that they have a jackpot linked from among multiple machines.

There are area linked progressives that feature multiple slot machines over a defined area feeding into the same single progressive jackpot. The area might include the same slots or group of slots in a single casino or group of casinos.

A piece of every dollar put into these slots goes into a single progressive jackpot that all these slots link to. That means only money put in these slots goes into that jackpot, and only someone playing one of these slots can win it.

Then, there are network-wide linked progressives that feature multiple slot machines over a wide network feeding into the same single progressive jackpot. Network-wide progressives offer the biggest progressive jackpots around.

The network will include the same slots or group of slots at a group of casinos in the same state, group of states or all across the country.

Once again, a piece of every dollar put into these slots goes into a single progressive jackpot. However, more slots over a wider network means more players, more dollars and bigger jackpots. Of course, the same basic jackpot principles apply, meaning only someone playing one of the slots in the network can win the jackpot.

Online stand alone and linked progressives

You’ll also find the stand-alone and linked progressive jackpot slots at online casinos across the US.

Stand-alone online progressives are single online slot games with a progressive jackpot. As with land-based slots, only money that goes into the online slot goes toward the jackpot, and only someone playing that slot can win it.

Linked online progressives feature multiple slots at a single online casino or group of online casinos feeding into the same progressive jackpot. Where the law allows and interstate agreements are in place, these online casinos may even be in different states all feeding into the same progressive jackpot. Once again, the same basic jackpot principles apply.

Popular online progressive jackpot slots in the US

Here’s a look at the five most popular online progressive jackpot slots and linked-progressive slot series in the country:

Divine Fortune

Divine Fortune is at more real money US casinos than any other progressive jackpot slot.

It’s a three-row and five-reel Greek mythology-themed NetEnt-designed slot. Players can win the jackpot via the Jackpot Bonus Game, triggered when you land three or more bonus symbols. Fill the screen with bonus symbols in the Jackpot Bonus Game, and the progressive jackpot is yours.

Divine Fortune is known to have paid out some of the biggest jackpots in US online casino history. In fact, Divine Fortune has awarded more than $3 million in progressive jackpot wins in New Jersey casinos in 2020 alone.

That includes the following five $200,000-plus wins at NJ online casinos:

• $278,802.58 on March 15, 2020, at SugarHouse Online Casino.
• $271,476.08 on June 9, 2020, at Golden Nugget Online Casino.
• $268,223.23 on June 20, 2020, at Hard Rock Online Casino.
• $257,594.00 on Jan. 18, 2020, at Resorts Online Casino.
• $230,552.72 on March 31, 2020, at Hard Rock Online Casino.

The Divine Fortune progressive jackpot was worth over $250,000 on the Borgata/BetMGM/PartyCasino NJ online casino network in mid-2020. Plus, it was once again over $140,000 at Golden Nugget Online Casino and over $120,000 at SugarHouse Online Casino and Betfair Online Casino in New Jersey in mid-2020.

A 40-year-old Lititz, Pennsylvania, man also hit the Divine Fortune progressive jackpot at PlaySugarHouse.com in PA in March 2020, winning $278,430.23. That marked the thirteenth Divine Fortune jackpot at PlaySugarHouse.com in Pennsylvania since its launch in the summer of 2019.

The Divine Fortune progressive jackpot at the BetRivers network in PA was up close to $75,000 in mid-2020.

Mercy of the Gods

Mercy of the Gods is NetEnt’s progressive jackpot slot follow-up to Divine Fortune and is available at a variety of online casinos across the US.

It’s also a three-row and five-reel slot, but Mercy of the Gods features an ancient Egyptian theme.

The jackpot can be won in the Gift of Wealth Bonus Game, triggered when you land three golden heart bonus symbols. Fill the screen with golden heart bonus symbols in the bonus game, and the progressive jackpot is yours.

Players have hit three six-figure jackpots on Mercy of the Gods online in New Jersey:

• $293,839.47 on Feb. 27, 2020, at BetMGM Online Casino.
• $137,351.07 on June 16, 2020, at Borgata Online Casino.
• $131,285.60 on March 27, 2020, at Borgata Online Casino.

The Mercy of the Gods progressive jackpot was also over six figures on the Borgata/BetMGM/PartyCasino NJ online casino network in mid-2020. It was over $40,000 at Golden Nugget Online Casino.

The Mercy of the Gods progressive jackpot on the PlaySugarHouse/BetRivers network in PA was close to $45,000 in mid-2020.

Cleopatra mega jackpots

Cleopatra is an IGT-designed progressive jackpot slot featuring a familiar ancient Egyptian theme. It’s a standard three-row and five-reel slot that is available at a host of online casinos across the US.

You can win the jackpot in the Cleopatra Bonus game, triggered when you land three or more sphinx symbols. The Cleopatra Bonus game includes 15 free spins to start. Land the five Cleopatra symbols during your spins, and the progressive jackpot is yours.

Cleopatra is responsible for awarding one of the largest progressive jackpot win at an online casino in the US. It was a $373,500 jackpot at BetMGM in New Jersey on Feb. 13, 2020.

The Big One

The Borgata/BetMGM/PartyCasino NJ online casino network runs a linked progressive jackpot on a series of nine WIN Studios slots. The casinos call it The Big One. The Big One progressive jackpot can climb to over $330,000.

The Big One linked slots include:

• MGM Grand Millions
• Loot’EnKhamun
• Biker Pigs
• Going Nuts
• Melon Madness
• Book of Myths
• Spin Bandit
• The Win Genie
• Luck o’ the Jackpot

Chances at The Big One jackpot are awarded randomly on these slots. You are suddenly taken to a Big One jackpot screen where there’s a list of five progressive jackpots and a color wheel.

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You spin the wheel, and it changes colors until randomly stopping on one. Every color corresponds to one of the five jackpots.

888 Jackpots

888 Online Casino in NJ has a series of linked progressive jackpot slots with a progressive jackpot that can climb to more than $1 million. The exclusive-to-888 slots include:

• Aztec Realm
• Mermaid’s Millions
• Oktoberfest Spins
• Rise of the Pharaohs
• Santa’s Super Slot
• Saved by the Bells

The games award the jackpot randomly. No matching symbols are required. However, bet size matters, and different bet sizes win different size jackpots. That means the big progressive jackpot is only in play with max bets.

What Are Progressive Jackpot Slots

Return-to-player rates and progressive jackpot slots

Normally, you look at a slot’s return-to-player rate to determine its volatility and playability. A slot’s RTP is the percentage of cash it takes in that it will theoretically pay back to players. A slot with a 99% RTP will eventually pay out 99 cents of every dollar it takes in.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to get back $99 out of every $100 you put in the game. However, it does mean someone eventually will. It could be you or some other player who catches the slot at the right time. In other words, a slot’s RTP is realized over the long haul, not session by session or spin by spin.

The slot’s house edge is the other side of RTP. That means a slot with a 99% RTP has a 1% house edge. That is, the casino ultimately makes a profit of one cent from every dollar put in the game. The higher the RTP and lower the house edge, the less volatile and therefore more playable a slot is.

However, you can throw all that out the window when it comes to progressive jackpot slots.

For the most part, progressive jackpot slots have low RTPs because so much of the money that players put into the game is siphoned off for the progressive jackpot slot.

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That means most progressive jackpot slots are considered highly volatile. However, they’re still playable, because playing progressive jackpot slots is not about chasing more frequent, though smaller, payouts.

Instead, playing progressive jackpot slots is about taking your shot at the progressive jackpot. That means, when it comes to playing progressive jackpot slots, you can pretty much ignore the RTP and simply go for it.

Max bet is usually required to qualify for a jackpot

Slots are a game of luck, not skill. Therefore, there is no strategy players can employ to help them win a progressive jackpot. There are no guarantees you’ll ever hit the progressive jackpot, no matter how much money you put into a slot.

The odds are stacked against you in a big way. In fact, you’re going to need an astronomical amount of luck to win a progressive jackpot. That said, you also have to put yourself in position to get lucky. When it comes to progressive jackpot slots, that means making the maximum bet.

You should probably be betting the max on all online slots. This is particularly true when it comes to playing online slots with a progressive jackpot. The thing is, if you bet anything less than the maximum bet, you’re likely not even eligible to win the progressive jackpot.

If your goal isn’t to try to win the progressive jackpot, there are plenty of other slots more suitable for you. If you’re playing a slot with a progressive jackpot, it just makes sense to try and go after it. You simply have to play the maximum credits allowed to get access to the most paylines, bonus games, and the progressive jackpot.

Progressive jackpot slot strategy

Let’s face it, slots aren’t exactly strategy games. Particularly when you’re playing progressive jackpot slots, you’re trying to get lucky, and there is no strategy on earth that can help you do that.

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That said, you must put yourself in a position to get lucky or you never will.

With progressive jackpot slots, that usually means making the maximum bet on every spin. In fact, to be eligible to win the jackpot on most progressive jackpot slots you must bet the maximum.

Check with the rules of each game to make sure that’s the case. If it is, and you understand playing progressive jackpot slots should be about taking your shot at the jackpot, anything else would be a waste of your time and money.

If you’re trying to book small wins instead, you should play low-volatility slots with high RTPs.

The thing is, chasing sizable progressive jackpots with life-changing money isn’t cheap. Maximum bets add up fast. Add in the fact there’s no guarantee you’ll ever win that jackpot, and you’re going to need to be careful. That means following the principles of a responsible gambling strategy.

Responsible gambling involves setting limits and sticking to them. Only play with money you can afford to lose, and when that’s gone, you have to quit. Show some discipline, don’t chase losses and you’ll survive to take a shot at that progressive jackpot again when you can play with another chunk of cash you can afford to lose.

Ultimately, this will help keep playing progressive jackpot slots a fun pursuit you do with disposable income. You’ll limit your losses and be able to take another shot at that progressive jackpot some other day.

Know your limits, stay within it

The reality is you’re more than likely going to rack up heavy losses chasing progressive jackpots online. That money in the jackpot has to come from somewhere. In fact, it’s being funded with every losing spin you and others make.

Mindlessly spinning away making maximum bets on a progressive jackpot slot can prove costly over time. Since there’s no guarantee you’re ever going to win, following responsible gambling principles and some proper bankroll management strategies can prevent you from getting in over your head.

Online gamblers should always set a limit of how much they can afford to lose in a particular session and stick to it. The key is making it a number that won’t have an effect on your life.

Applying this kind of common sense to managing your gambling bankroll can definitely help you limit your losses. Plus, that will make sure you can stay in the game long enough for you to get lucky.

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If you lose the money you’ve limited yourself to, accept that today is not your day and simply walk away. Show some discipline. Do not chase your losses, and perhaps things will turn around when you return to play another day.