Back
Vegas Jackpots : Complete Guide | LeoVegas

Summary

Las Vegas, A city renowned for it's premier gambling casinos, attracts millions of visitors annually, offering a plethora of games including slots, poker, and baccarat. The city's casinos provide opportunities for gamblers to win substantial jackpots, which can be life-altering. These jackpots come in two main types: fixed and progressive. While fixed jackpots remain constant, progressive ones grow over time as more players participate. Vegas offers various avenues to win big, from slot machines to table games like Blackjack and Poker. Notable wins include a British soldier's £13.2 million jackpot on Mega Moolah and a $14 million win on Megabucks in Reno. Recent winners in Vegas have taken home significant sums, with some preferring anonymity. The odds of hitting a jackpot vary, with the Megabucks jackpot boasting odds of 1 in 49,836,032. Overall, Vegas remains a hotspot for jackpot enthusiasts, both in physical casinos and increasingly, online.

Table of Contents

Vegas Jackpots: Complete Guide

Las Vegas is the world’s number one gambling mecca. An estimated 32 million people visit Las Vegas each year, and many of them experience the glamorous casinos located on The Strip. Las Vegas’ casinos offer every possible game, ranging from pokies to poker and baccarat. There are even sports betting lounges available, enabling gamblers to bet on a variety of events from all over the world.

Sin City’s casinos offer players the chance to win life-changing jackpots. Gamblers can walk out of a casino with a large sum of money thanks to one lucky spin, a successful hand of poker, or a win on a table game.

Gambling venues in Las Vegas have awarded some incredible jackpots over the years. Depending on the casino, jackpots of $25,000 or less are paid out via cash or cheque. Large jackpot wins are normally paid out annually or in a large lump sum transferred to a banking account.

Jackpot enthusiasts are spoiled for choice in Las Vegas, where fixed and progressive jackpots are up for grabs. Regardless of the jackpot, players can leave Sin City with lots of cash in their pocket. What happens in Vegas doesn’t have to stay in Vegas.

Types of Vegas Jackpots

There are two main types of Vegas jackpots: fixed and progressive. A fixed jackpot never changes. The winnings do not grow or decrease over time. Once a player wins the jackpot, it resets to the fixed value.

A progressive jackpot is slightly different. It grows over time as more people play the networked slot or table game. The jackpot value increases until one fortunate player strikes gold. This makes progressive jackpots very popular amongst gamblers.

Slot Machine Jackpots

Casinos in Sin City provide gambling fans with the exciting opportunity to play progressive slots. Similarly themed progressive slots in a Vegas casino are linked to merge the prize money in a progressive jackpot. As more people play, the jackpot amount grows.

In some cases, the progressive jackpots in multiple Vegas casinos are networked. This leads to even larger jackpots. Depending on how many people play the slots, the jackpot amount can grow quickly. The massive amounts of money available in a progressive jackpot often lure people to play these games.

Unfortunately, progressive jackpots are not as easy to win as standalone, or fixed slot machine jackpots. This kind of cash prize does not increase when more people play the respective game. Standalone slots are not connected to other machines in the casino, which could make it easier to win a fixed jackpot as fewer people play them.

Table Game Jackpots

Slot machines aren’t the only games in Vegas that are equipped with progressive jackpots. Table games also have progressive jackpots, allowing players to rake in enormous amounts of cash. Gamblers typically must stake a specific amount of money to compete for a jackpot win. It may be required to make a side bet to qualify for a jackpot. Side bets are the most common way to qualify for the progressive jackpot linked to a table game.

Like Vegas slots, a table game’s progressive jackpot is made up of a percentage of previously lost bets. The amount of money can rocket to millions within a short period. Table progressive jackpots feature paytables that specify the percentage a player will win if the jackpot is triggered.

Some of the most popular table games with progressive jackpots are Blazing 7s Blackjack, Progressive Let It Ride, and Caribbean Stud Poker. Las Vegas gambling parlors have produced some life-changing jackpot wins on table games. In July 2020, one player bagged an incredible $1.982 million at Caesars Palace on a game of Pai Gow Poker. The unidentified player from California later told news reporters he planned to buy a house with the money.

On November 10, 2021, a player at Harrah’s scooped the Pai Gow Poker jackpot. The lucky gambler won $1.393 million. Progressive jackpots don’t have to be worth millions to be triggered. In October 2021, one lucky Mississippi Stud poker player snatched $834,091 in cash at the Paris casino. The jackpot was linked to other casinos across Vegas. The player told news reporters she was only in town for a wedding and stopped at the casino to enjoy a game of poker. She added that she would pay off her house, and the houses of her kids as well.

Poker Room Jackpots

Poker has become the game for card players over the last two decades. Its popularity has soared, with large and small tournaments taking place all around the globe. Players flock to Vegas to enjoy poker games and tournaments. Poker rooms attract players of all calibres as they are the perfect setting to meet and play against some of the best poker players around.

Poker rooms vary from casino to casino. Some are modern with bright lights, while others are classic low-key Vegas rooms. Although some progressive jackpots in poker easily exceed the million-dollar mark, most are worth less.

The excitement of being dealt a hand that triggers a poker room jackpot is priceless. Players can increase their winnings or make up for their losses thanks to a hefty jackpot. Most progressive poker jackpots are triggered by a royal flush. Once the jackpot is triggered, it resets to its base value and starts growing again.

Winning a poker room jackpot requires some luck in combination with a bit of strategy. Firstly, players need to be familiar with the rules of the game, with the same applying to the jackpot’s size. The larger the amount, the more money is needed to compete for the jackpot. Additionally, players should only play strong hands, and know when to hold/fold as they endeavour to snag a jackpot in a poker room.

Famous Vegas Jackpots

Vegas has had some notable, even legendary jackpot wins. Specific games are known as millionaire makers.

Mega Moolah: The Millionaire Maker

In September 2015, a 26-year-old British soldier landed a cool £13.2 million jackpot on Mega Moolah. Since then, the jungle-themed slot has been called the “millionaire maker” because of the number of players that have won large sums of cash.

The Mega Moolah RTP isn’t high. However, many progressive slots with low RTPs produce large jackpots. Two years after the British soldier bagged the jaw-dropping payout, another fortunate slotter took home the Mega Moolah jackpot, netting him a whopping £1.448 million.

Wheel of Fortune: Spinning Fortunes

Wheel of Fortunes spilled out three progressive jackpots in December 2021. Three different players scooped cash prizes with a total value of more than $4 million in the short timeframe of one month. All three wins came in Las Vegas.

In 1996, IGT launched Wheel of Fortunes. In the period between the release date and January 2022, the game show-inspired slot produced an incredible 1,100 millionaires, who netted over $3.3 billion in jackpot cash.

Megabucks: Legendary Million-Dollar Wins

In April 2023, Megabucks set a progressive jackpot record in Reno (a six-hour drive from Vegas). A player at the Atlantis Casino placed a $10 bet and won $14 million. It was the first Megabucks progressive jackpot in the state of Nevada for two years. The lucky winner had played the slot for 40 minutes before hitting the jackpot.

After paying out the jackpot, the Megabucks progressive jackpot reset at $10 million. The IGT creation offers the biggest slot jackpot in the United States. Megabucks is renowned for its life-changing impact courtesy of the mind-boggling progressive jackpot. The magnitude of the jackpot has made Megabucks a legend in the Vegas casino community.

Latest winners of jackpots in Las Vegas

Many jackpot winners want to remain anonymous after a big win, while some go public. Let’s take a look at some of the most recent winners in Sin City:

  • In April 2023, Omar Moreno won $499,171 at the Flamingo Las Vegas while playing Three Card Poker.
  • In October 2022, a visitor to Bally's casino bagged the Mega Progressive Jackpot worth $496,675.95 playing Three Card Poker.
  • In May 2023, a slot player pocketed $2,198,173 thanks to the Wheel of Fortune Gold Spin Triple Gold MegaTower machine at the Aria.
  • On February 9, 2023, a mystery player snatched $3.2 million on a slot machine at the Bellagio Las Vegas.

FAQs about Vegas Jackpots

What are the odds of hitting a jackpot in Vegas?

The odds of hitting a Vegas jackpot vary by game. Players should always read the rules and paytable of the games before playing. The odds of hitting the Megabucks jackpot, the biggest in Vegas, is 1 in 49,836,032.

How are jackpot amounts determined and accumulated?

Progressive jackpots are an accumulation of losing bets. This money is pooled together to increase the progressive jackpot.

Can you play for Vegas jackpots online?

Players can enjoy Vegas-style slots at LeoVegas Online Casino NZ.

Learn more about jackpots in our latest guides: