If you’ve spent any time looking through the Tonybet games catalogue, you’ve probably noticed that there are a few different types of slot games out there – some offering bigger prizes than others, and many offering different play mechanics and styles.
In fact, for the most part, you can split slot games into ‘regular’ and ‘jackpot’ – but what are some of the major differences between these types?
The obvious answer is, of course, to say that jackpot slots have bigger prizes – and yet, there’s more to it than that! In this guide, I’ll take you through everything you need to know about regular and jackpot slots, what the main differences are between the types, and which games in the Tonybet catalogue fall into which category.
Who knows, you might even want to use this guide as a launchpad for exploring a few new games!
Explore a growing variety of jackpot and traditional games here at Tonybet.
What are regular slots?
Regular slots are games of chance that allow you to spin a certain number of reels in order to line up winning symbols on paylines. These paylines are paths where, if you make winning combos, you can claim base game prizes.
Regular slots usually have simple paytables, meaning that there’s normally a hierarchy of symbols and prizes, alongside wild symbols that can take the place of any other to create winning combos. In many cases, regular slot games also have scatter symbols, which give you spot prizes and unlock features if you line up enough of them.
Unlike many jackpot slots, regular games have fixed prizes. This means that you get a given prize for a specific win combination, and your money doesn’t add to a progressive total.
Most modern regular slot games have bonus features hidden away because they offer the biggest prizes – for example, in some games, you’ll get the chance to play with a set of free spins. In others, you might get to pick a treasure chest, a pot of gold, or a lucky envelope for a spot prize.
Ultimately, these bonus features are hidden away until you achieve a certain goal – for example, by lining up three special symbols or filling up a meter.
Regular slots don’t have any progressive prizes or separate cash pots to play for. What you see is what you get, and for the most part, this means that there are payline wins and a bonus feature. This is the traditional slot game setup – and in some cases, there are jackpot versions of these games that add a little extra on.
Some of the most popular regular slots (i.e., those without jackpot prizes) in the Tonybet catalogue include:
- Fortune Five, a classic three-reel slot and fruit machine that takes things back to basics.
- Book of Dead, a game based around raiding tombs to unearth ancient secrets.
- Gonzo’s Gold, a classic game about finding hidden treasure, and one of several instalments in the Gonzo’s series.
Regular slot features and statistics vary from game to game, so always make sure to check out their paytables before you start spinning for real.
What are jackpot slots? How do they work?
Jackpot slots actually work much the same way as regular slots, with the key difference being that there are bigger prizes at stake.
Most of the time, you can split jackpot slots into two categories – first, where there are in-game jackpots (with large prizes in a hierarchy, such as mini, midi and major jackpots), and second, where there is a progressive jackpot prize.
Progressive jackpots tend to be massive – they are often seven figures or more in size, and that’s because players are competing with each other all over the world. This means that anyone playing a progressive jackpot slot will have a shot at the prize, regardless of the casino they’re logged into.
As you can imagine, this means that the odds of winning these prizes are much shorter than the standard jackpots and payline wins you can expect from other games. However, progressive jackpots have proven to be immensely popular over the years.
Progressive jackpot games are so-called because, every time you play, a little more gets added to the jackpot total.
This means that the more people play these games worldwide, the bigger the prize will be. There are some jackpot games that will let you add to in-game prize totals without you playing against other people around the world.
The way that jackpot prizes work is, again, down to random chance. Much like how you’d unlock a bonus round or spot prize in a regular slot game, you usually need to trigger a jackpot by lining up a certain number of symbols, and then playing another jackpot game.
For example, many games that run under the Jackpot King label require you to land multiple JK symbols before entering the jackpot prize game and lining up more symbols there. This adds an extra dimension to the bonus features you’d see in regular games – there’s still a challenge to be had if you want to stand a chance of winning the top prizes.
Jackpot slots have big prizes, but this doesn’t mean that they are as easy to win as regular slots. However, you will still find jackpot games with traditional slot features, such as payline wins, wild symbols and regular bonus games.
Some jackpot games have prize triggers that can deliver randomly during play – these are known as drops and wins. Drops and wins games will sometimes grant random jackpot prizes or prize boosts during any given spin of the reels – and they’re frequently tied into tournaments and longer events.
Some of the most popular jackpot games available at Tonybet include:
- Mega Moolah Megaways, an extended-payline version of one of the first and biggest jackpot prize slots.
- Rising Rewards King Millions, a super-colourful slot with progressive jackpot prizes.
- 9 Blazing Diamonds WOWPOT, a fiery title that makes use of the popular WOWPOT prize delivery system.
Regular slots vs jackpot slots: key differences
The main difference between regular slots and jackpot slots is that the prizes in the latter tend to be higher, and will grow based on how much money is added to them. The prizes in progressive jackpot games increase the more they are played, whereas regular slots have fixed prizes based on certain symbol combos and bonus features.
That said, jackpot slots still borrow a few of the usual mechanisms of regular games. Also, jackpot enhanced versions of traditional games take the old mechanics and add progressive prizes on top as an extra twist.
Regular and jackpot slots have their own fans and audiences, but many players like playing both. What’s most important in both cases is that you always keep a close eye on your bankroll and your play time – especially in the case of jackpot games, where your chances of winning bigger prizes will be lower.
Generally speaking, novice players may prefer to play regular slots, while those with more experience may lean towards jackpot games.
Which type of slot has better odds?
Odds vary between regular and jackpot games, but the bigger the prize, the lower the chance you have of winning it.
This means that, generally, regular slots have better odds than jackpot slots. However, this can be an overgeneralisation, as when there are lots of different prizes to play for, there will also be varying odds.
It’s therefore a good idea to try out slots to see how they feel to you – try to avoid jackpot games if you don’t want the bigger risks, but only play regular slots if you’re happy to try for smaller prizes. Regardless of odds, ultimately, all slots are games of complete chance, and you’ll need to have a firm bankroll limit in place.
Which slot type should you choose?
This all depends on your attitude to risk and what you want to play for! Many newer players will opt for games with fewer risks and lower entry fees – in this case, when looking at regular and jackpot slots, you’d lean towards the former.
There’s a lot for you to explore at Tonybet – take a look around and try one or two games from either column, and see which appeals to you the most. Remember, our team is on hand to help support you if you need help setting play time or bankroll limits.
Check out Tonybet’s range of popular slots and jackpot games now – more are being added all the time!
