IGT’s Megabucks is a dollar coin slot machine that requires 3 coins ($3.00) to hit the jackpot. The jackpot is reset to a specific amount after every grand win. While the present reset amount is $10-million, there is talk that this will soon rise to $11-million. Welcome to Red Screen Ninjas. We are in Vegas playing high limit slots! In this episode, we decided to test our lucky with just $15 dollars that ended up pan.

• Top Casino of the Month
• Up to $100 Bonus

Some of the most popular kind of slots are the ones with progressive jackpots. These can be found in all the major online casinos, and in several of the land-based ones, too. The reason that these stand apart is that the prize fund isn’t fixed. Instead, the amount that can be won depends on the number of players participating. There are three basic kinds that you’ll come across. The stand-alones are only for individual games.

• Top Recommended Casinos
• The below amounts include qualifying deposits. T&C’s apply.

The localized type has a series of titles that have been linked within the venue. The final option covers multiple networks over a wide area. The biggest and the most well known of these is IGT’s Megabucks. Others in this category, such as Mega Moolah and Wheel of Fortune, have paid out millions of dollars over time.

The Background to Progressive Jackpots

During the course of the last century, slots became increasingly popular at the casino. The venues were eager to develop better versions to maximise the potential of these games but building bigger machines with more reels wasn’t quite the answer. It was, ultimately, the development of video slots in the seventies which laid the foundations for progressive Jackpots to evolve.

The use of software to simulate the spinning of reels allowed more symbols, and thus increased the number of playable combinations. By combining computer networks, it became possible for many people to play collectively for one prize fund.

18+; T&Cs Apply. Click Play Now for more information

The World’s First Progressive Slots

In 1986, International Game Technology (IGT) introduced the world’s first progressive slot. This Jackpot game was called Megabucks, and it used a wide-area network to connect multiple machines. A decade later, the first online casinos started to make an appearance. With faster internet speeds in place at the turn of the century, it was now possible for online games to be played to their full potential.

Since this time, progressives have continued to evolve, with better technology and greater creativity making them as popular as ever. Nowadays, more and more players are aiming to win a life-changing amount of money.

Finding the Best Online Progressive Jackpots

The slots with the big pay-outs are probably the most sought after of all the games at any of the online casinos. If you’re searching for the best ones to play, a good option is to find a venue which is supported by one of the bigger software suppliers, such as Microgaming, Playtech, Netent or IGT. These companies provide some of the world’s most popular progressives, and you’re likely to recognize many of the titles, like Mega Moolah, Wheel of Fortune and Jackpot Giant.

Players who are seeking something different should look for establishments that offer their own proprietary progressives. In this scenario, all the jackpot games are linked together, in order to offer larger prize funds. This practice is more common in the land-based casinos, but it can be found in a few of the bigger online ones, too.

Learning the Rules of Progressives

Megabucks Slot Machine Current Jackpot Amount

Playing progressive slots online is very much the same process as spinning the reels on a standard video version. There is, however, one fundamental difference. In this kind of game, the jackpot will continue to grow until it is won. The prize comprises of an amount (normally around 10%) that is set aside from the player’s bet and then added to the total fund. There is one key thing to keep in mind before you embark on this type of play.

In order to win, the maximum bet must be placed. If this isn’t the case, you will not be eligible for the award. The rules and pay tables vary with every game, so you should take a look at the winning combinations and the game features before you make any wagers. There are a number of common features that you may find on a progressive slot game.

• Scatter Symbols – If a scatter symbol appears, it can multiply your winnings or trigger a bonus feature, such as free spins.
• Wild Symbols – These can represent any symbol to complete a winning combination, and they sometimes act as a multiplier.
• Bonus Features – These can include no-risk free spins and a gamble feature, which will give players the chance to double their money after a win.

The Top Progressives by Developer

Here is a list of the biggest and most popular progressive slots with the highest jackpots. To play any of the games listed, look for an online casino supported by the software company which provides the desired game.

Remember to Bet Max for the Win

Progressive jackpots have served to give online slots even greater appeal. These versions offer players the opportunity to win a life-changing amount of money with a relatively small stake. The most popular ones are generally those that accumulate the highest jackpots, and consequently, these titles can be found in most of the online casinos. They are always very well promoted, and it’s generally easy to find a particular title.

For example, to play Mega Moolah, possibly the most popular one on the market at this time, a player only needs to find an online casino which is supported by Microgaming software. It goes without saying that to participate in one of these types of games, you will have to deposit real cash, as there isn’t a free-play option. To be entitled to the big prize in any of these, you will always need to bet the maximum amount.

It is also a good idea to wager on all the pay lines if you can, as this increases the chances of winning. This piece of advice is, naturally, dependent on your budget.

18+; T&Cs Apply. Click Play Now for more information

Photo of Trinadad Torres courtesy of Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino.

Admit it. You have the same dream we do.

Everything conspires and you find yourself in the right place at the right time – seated in front of a Megabucks slot machine that’s primed and ready to hit. You push the button (of course, pulling a lever would be more dramatic, but this is 2015 and the one-armed bandit has gone the way of the horse and buggy). The logos on the reels all line up. And then the moment you’ve been waiting for finally arrives…you realize you’re a millionaire.

Correction: A multimillionaire.

IGT’s Megabucks has been paying out ginormous life-changing jackpots for almost 20 years. Its slogan is “Dream big. Win big.”

A network of slot machines linked throughout Nevada, Megabucks boasts a top prize that builds from a base amount of $10 million. To play it costs $1 a spin, but to quality for that top amount you’ll have to shell out $3. That sounds pretty steep, we know. But trust us, if you hit Megabucks with only a buck or two invested, you’ll leave with a jackpot in the thousands instead of millions. And just imagine trying to live with that.

As you’d expect, Megabucks lays claim to having paid the largest slot jackpots in Vegas history. It last hit here in mid March at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. The lucky winner was Trinadad Torres, a 78-year-old woman from Magna, Utah. She played $100 before netting the $10,744,292.71 jackpot. Her plans include traveling to the Philippines and buying a yellow Mustang.

Megabucks Slot Machine Current Jackpot

While nothing to sneeze at, Torres’ windfall just misses placing her on our list below of the 10 biggest slot jackpots ever won in Sin City.

Photo of Excalibur courtesy of MGM Resorts International.

Jackpot amount: $39,710,826.36
When: March 21, 2003
Where:Excalibur

More than 12 years ago, a 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles, who wanted to remain anonymous (and who can blame him?), hit the city’s largest slot jackpot after playing $100 on a Megabucks machine. A C-note in return for nearly $40 million…now that’s what we’d call a damn good investment.

Photo of Cynthia Jay-Brennan at the Desert Inn courtesy of Ethan Miller / Las Vegas Sun.

Jackpot amount: $34,959,458.56
When: Jan. 26, 2000
Where: Desert Inn (imploded in phases in 2001 and 2004 to make room for Wynn Las Vegas)

Gobs bigger than any tip she’d received, cocktail waitress Cynthia Jay-Brennan, then 37 years old, hit the second largest Megabucks slot jackpot in Vegas (at that time it was the city’s highest Megabucks payout). But her story took a tragic turn when her car was rear-ended about six weeks later by a drunk driver. Her older sister Lela died in the accident, and Jay-Brennan was left paralyzed.

Photo of Palace Station courtesy of Station Casinos.

Jackpot amount: $27,580,879.60
When: Nov. 15, 1998
Where:Palace Station

Ignoring your budget isn’t always a bad thing. Just ask the then 67-year-old retired flight attendant from Vegas who racked up the city’s third largest Megabucks slot payout. She’d only intended to play $100 at Palace Station that day, but wound up putting $300 in…and we’re pretty she doesn’t regret overspending one bit.

Jackpot amount: $22,621,229.74
When: May 27, 2002
Where:Bally’s

How does that old expression go? The early bird catches…the $22.6 million slot jackpot. Well, that’s how Johanna Heundl (then 74 years old) of Covina, California, might remember it. She was on her way to breakfast when she decided to stop and play a Megabucks machine. Having looked away for a moment, she couldn’t believe her eyes when she turned back and saw all the logos aligned in the payline.

Photo of Caesars Palace courtesy of Caesars Entertainment.

Jackpot amount: $21,346,952.22
When: June 1, 1999
Where:Caesars Palace

An Illinois man, then 49 years old and described as a “self-employed business consultant,” put a $10 bill into a Megabucks machine at the Roman-themed property and hit this whopping multimillion-dollar slot jackpot on his first spin. Here’s what we want to know: Is he still consulting? Can we hire him to help us get into the business of being millionaires?

Jackpot amount: $21,147,947
When: Sept. 15, 2005
Where:Cannery Casino Hotel

One man, two times a Megabucks winner. What are the odds? They’ve got to be astronomical. Certainly, anyone would be happy to score a single multimillion-dollar slot jackpot. But not everyone is Elmer Sherwin. A frequent Vegas visitor, Sherwin hit his first Megabucks jackpot of $4.6 million at The Mirage back in 1989. It was a sign of even better things to come. Sixteen years later, at the age of 92, that lucky son of a gun (kidding, we’re not jealous…really) did it again, adding another $21.1 million to his bank account.

Photo courtesy of the M Resort.

Jackpot amount: $17,329,817.80
When: Dec. 14, 2012
Where:M Resort

Oh, the best things in life are free…especially when they lead to a $17.3 million jackpot. A Las Vegas woman stopped by the M Resort in Henderson to gamble with her “free play” credits and enjoy a meal with some dining vouchers. Before she knew it, she’d become a multimillionaire.

Photo of “Rampart Lucky Local” courtesy of the Rampart Casino.

Jackpot amount: $14,282,544.21
When: Nov. 30, 2014
Where: Rampart Casino

Late last year a Las Vegas man put $20 in a Megabucks slot machine at the Summerlin-area Rampart Casino. Within five minutes he’d hit a jackpot worth $14.2 million. His plans were altruistic (unlike ours). The man, dubbed the “Rampart Lucky Local,” said he would make a donation to his church. The church, which had been holding services in a high school gym, can now have its own location built.

Photo of Aria courtesy of MGM Resorts International.

Jackpot amount: $12,769,933
When: Jan. 21, 2011
Where:Aria

Megabucks Slot Machine Current Jackpot Number

A woman visiting her niece in Vegas decided to drop $6 in a Megabucks slot machine before heading back to her room. Her reaction when the winning symbols lined up: “The machine broke.” Luckily, her niece was there to clarify things. We think we should book a room at Aria because about four months after that jackpot occurred, another Megabucks jackpot hit at the resort for $10,636,897. Talk about lightning striking twice!

Megabucks Slot Machine Current Jackpot Winning

Photo of New York-New York courtesy of MGM Resorts International.

Jackpot amount: $12,510,549.90
When: April 14, 1997
Where:New York-New York

New York-New York opened its doors on Jan. 3, 1997. Perhaps due to a little of the “city that never sleeps” magic, Vegas resident Suzanne Henley made her fortune at the Big Apple-themed megaresort just a few months later. On her way home from work, she stopped in to play a Megabucks machine – one that she’d had an inkling might hit. Henley waited in line an hour before she could play. And at 1:44 a.m., after putting $100 in, her diligence paid off…to the tune of more than $12.5 million.

Megabucks Slot Machine Current Jackpot

Comments