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Real players can sense it is going to hit exactly two hits before the jackpot. In my experience, I feel this sensation even when I am not playing, so my strategy is just to walk past each slot in a given casino until I feel the “buzz”.
It also has a potential payout. In this, you are going to see about how often do slot machines hit the jackpot? Online slot machine hit jackpots. The return to player (RTP) rates of the game, slot volatility has a frequency of payout, the actual probabilities of landing a big slot win. These are the main things comes under the playing slots.

Introduction

A must-hit-by jackpot, sometimes called a mystery jackpot, is one that is guaranteed to hit by a certain point. There are two good things about a large jackpot:

Slot machine video from casino expert Steve Bourie that teaches you the insider secrets to winning at slot machines and how a slot machine really works. Or more precisely, how the jackpot is operating. When you play on slot machines with progressive jackpots, there are often a group of casino games that are linked to the same prize pool at the game provider-level. Something that equates to a larger number of players who each contribute to the jackpot.

The jackpot itself is larger.
The probability of winning it is greater.

As with any progressive game, at some point the jackpot becomes large enough to sway the odds in the player's favor. This page will examine these 'target points' on some new slots by WMS with mystery jackpots. If you're interested in must-hit-by progressives on Ainsworth slots, please see my separate page on that.

This page assumes that a jackpot is equally likely to trigger anywhere between the starting value and must-hit-by maximum. This seems to be true for all makers except AGS. The reader should be warned that AGS must-hit-by jackpots tend to hit near the must-hit-by-point. For example, on a version of River Dragons, where the large jackpot starts at $4,000 and must hit by $5000, I calculate the average point it does hit is $4,945.49. So, please do not apply the information in this page to AGS machines. https://taiwantree.amebaownd.com/posts/15497069.

General Rules

Following are generally how must-hit-by progressives work. Free online casino games on y8.

The jackpot starts at a defined minimum amount.
A point at which the jackpot will hit is randomly chosen on a uniform distribution between the starting value and maximum possible jackpot.
A certain percentage of money bet, known as the 'meter rise,' will be directed towards the jackpot.
When the meter crosses the predestined win point the player will be awarded the jackpot.

The WMS jackpot games are different from the usual Mystery Jackpot games in two ways:

There are two jackpots.
The meter rises by the amount won, not the amount bet.

On the WMS games, it is my understanding that the Minor jackpot starts at $25 and must hit by $50. The Major jackpot starts at $200 and must hit by $500. Based on my own play, the rate of meter rise, for each meter, is 0.00582 times money won.

These two images below show two versions of the pertinent rule screen on the WMS games.

Math

The general formula for the Target Point can be given as:

Huge Slot Machine Jackpots

t = m × (h + r) / (h + 2r), where:
t = Target Point
m = Max jackpot
r = Rise of meter rate
h = House edge of game (taking into consideration the average value of the progressive)

An unknown piece to this equation is h, the house edge of the game. No casino is going to tell you exactly what a given slot machine is set to. So, you may have to resort to industry averages. The following table shows the averages for Clark County, Nevada (where Las Vegas is). You can see for penny slots, which Mystery Progressives tend to be on, the overall house edge is 10.77%.

Clark County Slot Win to 11/1/2017 to 10/31/2018

Denomination	Casino Win (pct)
$0.01	9.97%
$0.05	5.54%
$0.25	7.11%
$1.00	6.34%
$5.00	5.51%
$25.00	4.99%
$100.00	6.22%
Megabucks	12.34%
Multi-denomination	5.26%
Total	6.82%

How Do Slot Machines Hit

Source: Nevada Gaming Control Board, Gaming Revenue Report for 12-month period ending October 31, 2018 (PDF, see page 4).

Although the information is a bit dated, you may wish to also consider the returns of random games I sampled in my page on Slot Machine Odds in Las Vegas. All things considered, I think it is safe to assume a house edge of 8% to 12% in Las Vegas. The nicer the casino and closer to the Strip the casino is, the higher the house edge will generally be. Outside of Vegas, you're on your own.

WMS Target Points

The math for the WMS games gets rather complicated because of the two jackpot and that they go up by amount won, not amount bet. So, you'll have to take it on faith that the tables below are correct.

The first table shows the Target Point for the Major jackpot, according to the house edge on the game and the amount of the Minor jackpot. In most situations, it will need to be about $482.

In nearly all slot games that allow you to stop the reels, there is no skill or timing involved on your part. The random number generator has already determined your outcome when you hit the button to spin the reels, and you’re going to get the same result regardless of whether you stop the reels early, or let them halt in their own time. Most slot machine payoffs just add credits to the meter. However, large jackpots are paid by a slot attendant or supervisor, sometimes accompanied by a security guard. Tips always are optional. You do not have to tip those who pay you. Flipping out slot machine. Although you are not able to influence the outcome of the spin, one slot machine trick is to max your wagers. Betting maximum credits is the best slot machine strategy, because you do hit that winning payline combination you’ll receive the maximum amount of reward.

Major Jackpot Target Points

Minor Jackpot	House Edge
Minor Jackpot	14%	12%	10%	8%	6%
$25	$484.82	$482.32	$479.03	$474.47	$467.77
$26	$484.78	$482.27	$478.95	$474.36	$467.59
$27	$484.74	$482.22	$478.87	$474.24	$467.40
$28	$484.70	$482.15	$478.78	$474.11	$467.19
$29	$484.64	$482.08	$478.69	$473.96	$466.96
$30	$484.59	$482.01	$478.58	$473.80	$466.69
$31	$484.53	$481.92	$478.46	$473.62	$466.40
$32	$484.45	$481.82	$478.32	$473.42	$466.07
$33	$484.38	$481.72	$478.16	$473.18	$465.69
$34	$484.29	$481.59	$477.99	$472.92	$465.25
$35	$484.18	$481.45	$477.78	$472.61	$464.74
$36	$484.06	$481.28	$477.55	$472.24	$464.13
$37	$483.92	$481.09	$477.27	$471.81	$463.41
$38	$483.75	$480.86	$476.93	$471.30	$462.53
$39	$483.55	$480.58	$476.52	$470.66	$461.44
$40	$483.30	$480.23	$476.01	$469.85	$460.04
$41	$482.99	$479.78	$475.35	$468.81	$458.18
$42	$482.57	$479.20	$474.48	$467.40	$455.60
$43	$482.01	$478.40	$473.26	$465.38	$451.78
$44	$481.21	$477.23<

How Often Do Slot Machines Hit Jackpot