The latest offerings in progressive jackpots combine a number of possible payouts to players, allowing them to play for several levels of progressive awards. The most common multi-level payouts offer four, five or six progressive jackpots. Some are relatively small, giving a high frequency of wins, while others are very large and are awarded infrequently. Many tie into a bonus game where the player attempts to win increasingly higher progressive jackpot levels. One of the earliest multi-level progressives was IGT’s Fort Knox™, where the player began on a low level, attempting to win the contents of the first vault, then (if they were lucky) proceeded to successively higher vaults with bigger bonuses. This idea of progressively larger awards is not new. Bally’s QuarterMillion$® Tower of Power™ offered this feature, but only the largest award was progressive. Because higher award amounts have a lower hit frequency, they will progress for a long period of time, resulting in a significant impact on players as they watch the possible awards continue to increase.
There’s no reason that progressive values have to be tied to a bonus game. They can be linked to paying combinations directly obtained on the reels themselves. For example, five Jackpot symbols could award the upper progressive; four symbols the second level; three symbols the third; and two the lowest level progressive.
These multi-progressives are very similar to the progressive jackpots we studied in last month’s installment of the Slot Mathemagician series. They begin with a base value and have an incremental value that is added to each progressive jackpot for each coin-in. Each jackpot can have its own incremental rate. This incremental amount has to come from the theoretical hold, the theoretical payout or a combination of both.
There are a number of reasons to have multi-level progressives on your casino floor, including:
• Players want them.
• They allow casual players the feeling that they can win a progressive jackpot.
• High award values are possible for the high roller.
• They are visually catching with their large plasma or LCD marquees.
• They allow the casino more ability to configure payout.
• They are available in a wide variety of games and themes from a number of vendors.
• They are attention grabbing during bonus rounds when progressives are awarded.
Of course, saying that players want these games is akin to using a word to define its meaning. It is only because multi-level progressives have experienced wide-spread acceptance that players want them. However, the initial trial period has long since passed and many players will seek out these progressives.
Customized Payouts
Multi-level progressives provide an opportunity for the casino to customize its payout levels and the areas where its pays are awarded. Consider this example: We have a machine with a five-level progressive jackpot. It’s a 2 cent machine and the base amounts of the progressive jackpots are $25; $50; $250; $1,000; and $50,000. In credits, these awards are 1,250; 2,500; 12,500; 50,000; and 2,500,000. These progressive amounts, however, are only awardable on maximum-credit bets. For less-than-maximum-credit bets, players are awarded a reduced amount that does not increase progressively. This particular game is configured with a maximum bet amount of 200 credits. The progressives are awarded through a bonus game available on a scatter pay, so the payout amount is multiplied by the number of credits wagered.
We need to break down these values to study the underlying math. The lowest base jackpot award, 1,250 credits, is divided by the max-credit wager to give the equivalent payout for a single-credit award (1,250 / 200 = 6.25). Stated another way, this award is 6.25x the wager. This is a relatively low award. Consider the same ratio on a 3-reel quarter game. This is just slightly more than mixed-bars payouts, which are typically five credits on single-credit bets. The hit frequency of this award is likely very high, as we’re not paying out very much relative to the wager. Some games don’t require a maximum credit wager in order to qualify for the progressive jackpots, however. Consider the qualifications for the progressives when purchasing games for your casino.
Having determined that the lowest progressive payout amount is relatively small and can therefore have a relatively high hit frequency, we know that it is attainable by a casual player (as long as they bet the maximum). While casual players generally won’t always bet max-credit, when they receive bonus games that would have awarded the progressive amount, they may periodically wager max credits, hoping that the bonus game hits again during that wager. In this regard, casual players are encouraged to try a maximum wager periodically, especially if they feel that the progressives haven’t hit for a while and are “due.”
High rollers may also see these games as having great potential. A 200-credit wager on a 2 cent machine is a $4 wager — quite within their reach. On Bally’s Hot Shot Progressive™, the top progressive award may be $40,000. This appeals to the high rollers and certainly makes the $4 wager to qualify for this jackpot quite reasonable.
Traditionally, you select a game model from the manufacturer that generally matches your desired payout levels. Here, you can determine how much you want to pay in the particular award ranges. If you attribute 0.5 percent of your coin-in to this progressive, you’re putting a small amount to the award. If you chose 2 percent, you’re making this award a substantial amount of the overall payout. This allows you to customize your game to place more payouts where you want them and less where you don’t.
In the Level 1 progressive shown in Chart 1, the machine is configured to pay 9.26 percent of the overall game payout. By sending a high percentage to this progressive, you can substantially increase the overall payout for this award. This level of “customization” means that you can fine-tune the machines to increase the payouts where they will have the most benefit. Players will like these games because they win more in the areas that appeal to them most.
Player Appeal
These games are also very visible to players. Most are equipped or available with either plasma or LCD screens showing the ever-changing progressive values, as well as animation, to attract attention. When a bonus round is initiated, it will be displayed for all to see, encouraging players to “get in on the action.” Since there are so many vendors offering multi-progressive games, you have a great selection from which to choose. You can select one that has appeal to your specific jurisdiction or one that has an overall appeal to your primary customer base. The options are virtually limitless.
Homework
And now for something completely different ...
This month I’m offering a small, free utility to study your progressives. It will work with any range of one to eight varying progressive levels. The program can be downloaded at http://downloads.slot-math.com.
It is available as a single executable (pro.exe) program. Download and execute this program to begin the installation process; it will install the utility on your hard drive (c:\Program Files\ICS Gaming\Pro) and create a start-menu shortcut.
The utility consists of a single screen. The information about a particular game can be entered and saved. By default the machine ID is used for the file name, but you can change this to anything you wish.
At the top of the screen you can enter the primary information about the game (see Example 1). This includes:
• name of game (e.g., Wacky Winnings)
• machine ID (unique number on your casino floor)
• PAR number (from the manufacturer, to identify the math model)
• theoretical payout percentage
• denomination in dollars (e.g., for 1-cent, enter 0.01)
• maximum credit wager (max bet value)
• average credit wager (from your game reports)
• average games per day (to determine time between jackpot hits)
• cycle size (number of games, used to calculate hit frequency)
Below this section is the particular information for each progressive jackpot level. Some of this is calculated for you based upon the information you provide.
This includes:
• base jackpot amount in dollars
• base jackpot amount in credits
• games per cycle (enter the number of hits for this progressive jackpot per game cycle)
• average hit (the number of games between hits on average)
• jackpot hit (in credits; will display the average amount the jackpot will be when awarded)
• jackpot hit (in dollars)
• contribution percent (enter the rate of progression; for 1 percent, enter 1.0)
• dollars per max bet (the amount the jackpot will increase for a max bet)
• dollars per average bet (the amount the jackpot will increase for the average bet)
• hit (the average time between jackpot hits in days, hours and minutes)
The information in the grid can also be printed. Click on the Print button and a report will be sent to your default Windows® printer.
This is a simple utility that is intended to be dynamic. If you have suggestions about something you would like included in a future release, or procedures or calculations you use, please e-mail me. If possible, I will add these recommendations to the utility.
Wilson is the Owner of ICS Gaming, providing slot consulting services and game design. He has designed several slot games in both Class II and Class III markets. He can be reached at jwilson[at]icsgaming.com.
Comments
Post new comment