High Stakes and Low Stakes Online Jackpot Slots – Do You Know the Trade-Off?

Progressive online slots are among the most popular games in the internet gambling world. Some of these slots offer the chance to win six or seven figures.

However, the cost to play can vary quite a bit from one game to the next. You may only have to bet a quarter on one slot and $5 on another. Both wagers can give you the opportunity to win life-changing money. Depending on your bankroll, though, you may not be interested in risking several dollars per spin.

Therefore, you may automatically want to play the cheapest online jackpot slots available. But you should also know that there’s a trade-off when doing so.

I’m going to cover in-depth aspects of both low-stakes and high-stakes jackpot games. You can use this information to decide which type of slot best suits your needs.

Some of the Biggest Online Jackpot Slots Are Quite Cheap to Play

Most real money online slots don’t cost much to play. These games give you the opportunity to win big without a huge bankroll.

You’ll be interested to know that several of the biggest jackpot games don’t require a hefty minimum bet. Below, you can check out examples of slots that offer low minimum wagers and big prizes.

Mega Moolah

This Microgaming slot sets the standard for online gaming jackpots. It has paid a record prize worth €18,915,872 and continues to offer serious prize money. Currently, Mega Moolah’s top payout is worth €11,807,734 (approx. $14 million).

Mega Moolah is a five-reel, 25-line slot that only requires a €0.25 minimum wager. You have a better chance of winning a jackpot when betting more, but you still qualify in any case when wagering just a quarter.

This game offers four different progressive jackpots in the bonus round, including a Mini, Minor, Major, and Mega payout. The latter delivers the biggest windfall.

The bonus triggers randomly and has nothing to do with the symbols on the reels. You spin a wheel to decide what prize you’ll receive in the bonus round.

Hall of Gods

This NetEnt slot features five reels and 20 paylines. You only need to put a penny on each line, making the minimum bet worth just €0.20.

Each wager qualifies you for the Mini, Midi, and Mega progressive jackpots. You must unlock the bonus round with three scatters symbols to play for these prizes.

The bonus sees you smash mirrors with Thor’s hammer to reveal prize symbols. With any luck, you’ll get three Mega jackpot symbols and win the big one. The Hall of Gods Mega payout is worth €2,890,432 at the time of this post.

Cleopatra’s Gold Jackpot

Produced by RealTime Gaming (RTG), Jackpot Cleopatra’s Gold is one of the most popular jackpot slots in the US-facing market. It’s the jackpot version of another RTG slot by the same name.

This game has five reels and 20 paylines. You simply need to place a $1 bet to cover all 20 lines and qualify for the progressive prize.

As of now, the Cleopatra’s Gold jackpot is worth $407,483. You can win this prize when landing five Cleopatra symbols in a payline.

Cheap Games With Big Jackpots Feature Astronomical Odds

The allure of cheap online jackpot slots is that you can deposit $20 or so and take a crack at life-changing money. If you lose, then you’re only out the cost of a large pizza.

That said, many gamblers think that cheap games are automatically better than expensive ones. But there’s a catch involved with playing low-stakes slots.

Jackpots don’t grow to massive proportions through small bets and great odds of winning. Developers have to focus one or the other (or both) to make their progressive prizes grow.

Regarding inexpensive jackpot slots, they often turn the odds up to incredibly high proportions. For example, you might only have a 1 in 50 million or 1 in 100 million chance of winning a huge progressive prize.

Of course, you probably don’t expect to collect a six- or seven-figure payout the first time. But you could spend an eternity and a fortune chasing such prizes.

As mentioned before, the benefit to inexpensive jackpot games is that virtually anybody can play. The downside, though, is that virtually nobody has a realistic chance at winning.

High Stakes Online Slots Give You Better Odds of Winning

No one is thrilled with the prospect of wagering $5 or more per spin. This is especially the case when considering the rapid pace that slot machines play at.

Assuming you perform 500 spins an hour at $5 apiece, you’ll be risking $2,500. You might not even win half of this back during a lengthy session.

If you’re interested in this prospect, then you can check out examples of high-stakes jackpot slots below.

Shopping Spree

Shopping Spree is five-reel, nine-payline game from Real Time Gaming. The Bovada Casino version offers a jackpot that’s worth $5,385,347 at the time of this writing.

This prize is currently the largest in the US-facing online gambling market. It’s also one of the biggest overall, too.

If you want to play for this payout, though, you’ll need to put $1.25 on each of the nine lines. This works out to an overall wager worth $11.25.

Aztec’s Millions

Also developed by RTG, Aztec’s Millions is a five-reel, 25-line slot that boasts a $3,902,568 jackpot. You can win this payout by landing five game logos in a payline.

Aztec’s Millions features a fixed $5 bet with no leeway to change this amount. You’re facing plenty of risk when playing this online slot.

Aladdin’s Lamp €5

Aladdin’s Lamp doesn’t seem like it would be an expensive game to play. After all, it offers a classic setup with three reels and three lines.

However, this GTECH slot requires you to put €5 on each line to qualify for the jackpot. This €15 wager makes Aladdin’s Lamp a true high-roller slot.

You can currently win up to €3,802,284 through this slot. With that said, you might feel like the risk is worth the reward.

Jackpot Piñatas

A five-reel, 20-line game, Jackpot Piñatas is yet another RTG slot to make this list. As with Aztec’s Millions, it offers a $5 fixed wager.

The jackpot is seeded at $250,000 and often reaches the seven-figure mark. It’s currently sitting at $1,822,938.

You Could Spend a Fortune on High Stakes Games

The obvious downside to expensive slots is that you assume more risk. Wagering between $5 and $15 per spin definitely require some faith.

Of course, the upside is that you have a better chance of winning a jackpot with these large bets. But you still stand long odds of hitting the top prize.

The dream is that your big bets will pay off in the form of a huge jackpot. However, you also have to be realistic about the fact that you could very well lose plenty of money.

Which Type of Jackpot Slot Are You Ultimately Better Off Playing?

You can see that high- and low-stakes online progressive jackpot slots each have their good and bad points. No option is clearly better than the other. That said, the decision to play expensive or cheap slots all comes down to your individual situation.

You must look at your bankroll and how comfortable you are with risk before playing. Furthermore, you must consider what kind of odds you want to face.

Assuming you have a large bankroll and don’t mind betting big, then you should consider high-stakes jackpot slots. These games give you a better opportunity of winning a huge payout.

Of course, you certainly don’t want to play for high stakes if you’re dealing with a small bankroll. Low-stakes games provide a nice alternative if you want to chase life-changing money without spending a fortune.

I personally mix my play in between both types of slots. But I lean more towards the low-stakes side, which gives me more bang for my buck.

However, I also like to change things up and play a $5 slot like Jackpot Piñatas or Aztec’s Millions once in a while. I still may never win a massive prize through these games, but I like the better odds anyway.

Conclusion

Your first inclination may be to always play big jackpot slots with low bets. After all, you don’t have to risk as much in these cases.

But you may never win a progressive jackpot when going this route. The odds of hitting a massive jackpot on cheap games are astronomically high.

High-stakes online jackpot slots offer another alternative. You must bet a lot more to play these games, but you’ll also enjoy lower odds on the top prize.

Again, I personally like to mix up my play between high and low-stakes games. Of course, you can always blaze your own trail.