In the online world, large jackpots have mostly been reserved for online slot players, some of which have become over-night millionaires with nothing but cheap wagers. However, thanks to the ever-growing popularity of online bingo rooms, today even bingo players can get their hands on some nice jackpot prizes, and perhaps none is as attractive as the progressive bingo jackpot. If you’ve never tried entering a progressive jackpot bingo game before, here’s a short and easy guide into everything you need to know about them.
Fixed vs. Progressive Jackpot
Progressive Bingo jackpots are very similar to fixed bingo jackpots you see regularly offered in bingo rooms. Just like a fixed jackpot, the progressive jackpot is a prize you can claim if you happen to bingo a full house in a pre-determined number of calls. There are also bingo sites that specify a different combination for triggering the progressive jackpot, like forming a letter with your called numbers.
Therefore, the main difference between a progressive and fixed jackpot is that the progressive jackpot offers a different prize each time. Namely, nearly all progressive jackpots begin with a pre-determined “seeding” value, which is the minimum jackpot amount. The jackpot then increases progressively as more and more people buy tickets for the progressive game and a portion of each ticket is added to the jackpot pool. The longer the jackpot stays unclaimed, the higher its sum will be. And to pump the prizes up even higher, most bingo operators would link multiple bingo rooms to the jackpot.
How Progressive Bingo Jackpots Are Triggered?
To get a chance to win the jackpot, you’d first have to buy a ticket for the progressive game. The ticket price will vary accordingly to how large the progressive jackpot is. And depending on what type of bingo room you are playing in, i.e. the number of balls used in the game, you will be given different rules for how the jackpot is triggered.
In general, bingo operators will specify a Full House as the winning combination but there are also some that have Money Ball Bingo jackpots or ask for a different pattern. The number of calls by which you have to get a full house or get the winning pattern on your card will vary depending on the size of the jackpot, but also the number of balls used in the game. For example, a 75-ball room may set 29, 33, or even 42 calls as the limit, to which a 90-ball progressive room may have 32, 37, or 35 calls, respectively.
How Are They Paid Out?
Depending on the operator, you might get a different share of the overall prize pool, if the jackpot is a “community” jackpot. But in most cases, you’ll take the main prize home all by yourself, sometimes even with a side “community” jackpot that’s regularly available in that game. Once a progressive jackpot is won, the bingo operator will first validate the win and then reset the prize pool back to its “seeding” value.
If you happen to win the jackpot, your money will not be automatically transferred to your account until the winning is confirmed. You should also keep in mind that there are bingo operators that let you win a portion of the prize on a higher number of calls than the specified main limit. If this is the case, the percentage of your win will be outlined in the game rules and conditions.
How to Win a Progressive Bingo Jackpot?
Like any progressive jackpot out there, be it for slots, bingo, or a progressive card game, there is no failsafe way of winning. If there was one, obviously everybody would have already made a full-time career out of triggering jackpot prizes. Thus, as in any bingo game, the main factor that will affect your chances of winning is luck. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything to help yourself win the prize.
Other than finding a reputed and licensed operator, you can also increase your chances by using a few logical “precautionary” measures. For example, as the odds of hitting a full house or a winning pattern on that pre-defined number are statistically low and become even lower the more people play, you can increase your chances by making sure your odds aren’t as slim.
So, instead of playing at high-traffic times like weekends or evening hours, you will be better of playing on work days or early, low-volume hours. You can also track certain jackpots to see how often they are triggered on average, although you can never really be sure of the time. Needless to say, increasing the number of tickets per game can also help you, however, you should never do this on the account of spending money you don’t have. Because, after all, it’s just a game!
