How Do Online Casinos Handle Simultaneous Wins on Progressive Jackpots?

The goal in everyone’s mind when playing at an online casino is to land a payout. It is not something that always happens of course, due to the nature of gambling, as losses just can’t be avoided and they affect all players.

Progressive jackpot machines are hugely popular among online casino slots, due to the ever-increasing potential payout amount until the jackpot drops. A jackpot payout can happen at any time, but what if that time is synchronised between different players? 

What happens if two separate people are playing the same progressive jackpot machine at casinos online and they both drop a jackpot at the same time? How would the online casino operator handle such a situation?

What are Progressive Jackpots?

Progressive jackpot machines don’t have a fixed prize pot amount like regular machines do. On a progressive jackpot machine, a certain amount of stake is retained by the machine that goes towards the prize.

The more players put into the machine, then the quicker the jackpot will build. Progressives are appealing because the jackpots can build to enormous payouts and while they will eventually drop, they are typically high-volatility machines that pay out less frequently.

The other fascinating part of progressive jackpots is that it can feel like you are competing with other players to get your hands on the prize first. But what happens if more than one player strikes the big payout at the same time?

Same Game, Different Casino

A progressive slot is not exclusive to one online casino. Games are released by software providers and will turn up on countless online casino sites. So that means that a particular progressive game will be networked to one source, no matter how many locations it is operational at.

Because of that set-up, the slot will show the same jackpot on all sites, and this creates a scenario where the machine can have multiple payouts within a short amount of time. If this happens, then the jackpot prize is shared. 

The progressive jackpot, after all, is a pool and if there are simultaneous wins (or close enough) then the online casino splits the purse between how many winners there were that hit the big one. 

Same Game, Same Casino

There is also the scenario that multiple players could be playing on the same progressive jackpot at the same online casino. This is less probable to occur due to limited players on one platform picking the same game at the same time.

But the result, should this rare situation arise, plays out just the same as the above. Although it may be disappointing to the players involved who were expecting a 1 million payout to then only end up half because another player won too, the jackpot is split.

Alternative Payout

Sharing the pot is the most common answer to this rare scenario playing itself out. Before playing on a slot, however, just check the rules for the particular game, because there could be a situation where the amount of shared payout isn’t even, and instead is based on bets and timing.

Are Progressive Jackpots Worth It?

There’s no right answer to this. That’s because all players have different requirements when playing slots. Some purposely avoid Progressives to look for lower volatility games that pay out more frequently but in smaller amounts.

Progressive jackpots require higher bet minimums than other machines, and typically only ever payout the jackpot from a maximum bet. That, stacked up against the lower odds of the jackpot happening and higher variance in payouts, means they don’t appeal to everyone.

But there are plenty of people who are immediately drawn to them, because of that one big, ever-increasing jackpot prize that is up for grabs. Dedicated progressive jackpot players may also target quieter times of the day or night to play, to avoid clashing with a high volume of other players.

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