Two recent questions hit our inbox around similar topics, so we decided to combine the two into one, as we know many of you wonder about this:
I have a question for you about the Monopoly Express game. I had 4 green trains and 5 red trains (unheard of). When I was playing and the red train was running across, the word MAJOR appeared as the last train. The MAJOR was $2500+. In my mind, I won $2500 x 5 trains but I was awarded the $2500 on the first train and $500 on the other 4 trains. When the casino employee came to verify my win, I asked her how it was that my jackpot was $4600 instead of $12,500ish. She said it’s because once the MAJOR hit and paid it reset to the minimum amount ($500) and that’s what I got paid on those 4 trains. That has never set well with me but I don’t know if that’s the way a progressive works.
Christina S.
And
I was playing Ultimate Fire Link Triple Nova Paradise Lights. I hit 4 Fire Sparks to start the bonus. It landed on the Major! 4 earned plus 3 more in the bonus. It paid the $1,400 + one time and the other 6 Fire Sparks paid $500 each. I thought the Fire Spark paid the same for all showing. Not to say the I wasn’t happy with the bonus, I was, but I thought I would have had about $5,400 more at the end. Does the major always reset for the consecutive Fire Sparks or was it just this machine?
Karen P.
There was a long period of time where the Major and Grand jackpots, generally progressives as opposed to the usually static Mini and Minor jackpots, were by slot machine pay table rules designed to be awarded only once in a given bonus. This was why, for instance, you wouldn’t see the word Major on a Lightning Link or Dragon Link machine twice within a single Hold & Spin bonus.
But as slots have become more volatile, unlocking multiple Major jackpots, or even Grand jackpots, has become possible. One way to manage these changes is having the meter reset after each award, which makes the wins of multiple Majors or Grands much more predictable in scope, making managing things like payback percentage a bit simpler.
Both of these games are made by Light & Wonder, so it’s not entirely surprising they both behave similarly. And in the case of Fire Link, if you go back to the original Fire Link, if you won two Minis, which on that version were progressives, you’d win the reset value (or thereabouts, as it may have increased a few cents as others play while your prizes count up) for each further Mini after that (the Minor would work the same way).
So this isn’t a specific machine or title issue – it’s the rules about how the prizes award for each particular game.
This throws some players off when they play Phoenix Link or Lightning Dollar Link and the double and triple Major comes out, as in that case the prize on the meter is awarded consecutively before resetting, meaning a double Major is truly what is on the meter at that time awarded twice.
In those games’ case, the number of Majors is still limited to a single reel space, whether a single, double or triple appears. So they manage that payback scenario in a slightly different way, combined with the fact that the Major can max out on those games, unlike on the two Light & Wonder slots mentioned here.
The best way to know what will happen if your game awards multiple Majors (or other progressives) is to simply check the pay table. We reviewed the pay tables of both of these slots and confirmed the mention of a meter reset before awarding the additional prizes.
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