The Insiders Guide to Rapid Fire Jackpots

In late 2004 cryptologic launched a new range of slot games that have what are called Rapid Fire Jackpots. These are progressive jackpots that are linked to a group of machine and hit randomly without the need to line up any specific combination. More recently a similar system was used for the Marvel slots.

Compared to most progressive prizes the jackpots on offer are relatively small. For instance on the original game range the base prize is $500 and the average win is around the $800. Of course this means that these jackpots are won many times each day unlike the bigger progressives.

So how do these jackpots work and how can you win one? There is fairly big difference between this type of jackpot and a standard progressive where you have to line up a series of symbols with max bet to win. Seeing there is no special jackpot combination just how exactly are the winners decided?

This is where it gets interesting. As soon as a jackpot is hit the system randomly selects the value of the next prize. For example sake lets say the system selects $741.47. This is the amount that the next player will win.

How is the winner selected? Every bet made on the Rapid Fire Jackpot slots adds a percentage of the bet to the jackpot. Again lets say for example that this is 1% of the total bet. The first player who makes a spin which adds to the jackpot that passes the selected prize amount wins the jackpot.

Now this is where things get even more interesting. On the Rapid Fire slot games you can choose from five coin sizes starting at 10¢ and going up to $5. Max bet is nine coins per game. If you are betting 90¢ per spin you add as per our example above 0.9¢ to the progressive.

If however you are betting one of the bigger coin sizes you will contribute much more to the prize. Again as per the example above if you are playing $18 per spin you add 18¢ and if you are playing $45 you add 45¢. As you can see the bigger you bet the more you add to the jackpot and the greater chance you have of being the player who pushes the value over the trigger amount.

Quite simply the players who bet big have a much better chance of winning the progressive. Still it should be noted that you still have a chance of winning the jackpot betting small but the odds of winning are not all that good.

By now you are probably thinking that all you have to do to consistently win on these games is wait until the jackpot is high as bet as big as possible. While this idea does work in theory in reality it won't do you much good. Why? Remember that the jackpots average a win of around $800.

If you were to bet $45 a spin to win this jackpot you would be taking a big risk for a small reward. If you are playing and the jackpot is above average it is probably worth trying a bigger bet every once in a while. If you get lucky you win the jackpot and if not you still might hit another prize on the base game reels.

Rapid Fire Jackpot Slots

• Coral Cash, Northern Lights, Dolphin King, Salsa, Doctor Love and Sirens

Above are links to all of our reviews of games with this type of progressive jackpot. Apart from the side jackpot most of them also have an additional feature such as a bonus screen game or a free spins bonus.