Can You Play for Big Progressive Online Blackjack Jackpots?

Many gamblers love playing blackjack due to its low house and in-depth strategy. They can improve their knowledge by mastering basic strategy.

Blackjack is also great for aspiring professional gamblers. Card counting and hole carding both offer legitimate ways to beat the game.

One thing that blackjack isn’t as well known for, though, is jackpots. Those seeking huge prizes often opt for slots, Caribbean stud, or Let It Ride.

However, you can commonly find progressive jackpots through online blackjack. I’ll discuss more on the online version’s basics and if you can win big blackjack jackpots at gaming sites.

Basics of Playing Online Blackjack

If you’ve played blackjack in land-based casinos before, then you won’t have any trouble getting started with the internet version. Even if you’re relatively inexperienced with blackjack in general, you can still learn the game fairly quickly.

• Everything begins with placing the minimum wager. You typically only have to bet $1 per hand to play online. Some sites even let you enjoy real-money blackjack for as little as $0.10 per hand.
• To bet, you select a chip domination at the bottom of the screen and place it in the designated betting area. Afterward, you’ll receive two cards from the software/dealer.
• Upon receiving a hand, you have the option to hit or stand. When hitting, you want to avoid going over 21 (a.k.a. busting).
• Depending upon your hand score, you may be able to split and/or double down too. When comfortable with your hand score, you can stand and see if you beat the dealer’s hand.

Assuming you’ve ever played blackjack before, then the online version won’t be any mystery to you. The software also acts as a guiding hand for what you can and can’t do.

Here’s a quick recap on playing internet blackjack hands:

• Choose a chip denomination.
• Place your virtual chips in the designated betting circle.
• [Optional] Place a $1 chip in the jackpot circle.
• The software deals you two cards.
• Hit, stand, double down (if allowed by rules), or split (w/ a pair).
• Stand when satisfied with your score.
• Your hand will be compared to the dealer’s cards when you stand (provided you don’t bust out).

You Must Deposit to Play for the Jackpot

Online casinos give you the option to play free blackjack after signing up. The registration process is a simple matter of entering basic information, like your name, email, phone number, age, and address.

After completing registration, you can begin enjoying online blackjack for play money. The free version gives you an opportunity to practice without risking anything.

Of course, you won’t be able to play for a progressive jackpot until you actually have funds on the site. This aspect requires placing a deposit using one of the available banking methods.

Almost every online casino allows you to deposit with major credit cards, including Visa and Mastercard. You may also be able to fund your account with Bitcoin, bank transfer, e-wallet, and/or prepaid card.

Assuming you’ve never deposited at a gaming site before, you shouldn’t experience much trouble with this process. If you need any help, though, the site should offer clear deposit instructions in their FAQs section.

Make the Jackpot Bet

Earlier, I described how playing online blackjack works. You start every hand by making a standard wager.

Playing for the jackpot, however, requires that you place a special side bet as well. This wager, which usually costs $1, qualifies you for the progressive jackpot.

I’ve never played an internet blackjack game that mandates the side bet. You can still play the game as normal even without putting chips in the jackpot circle.

Of course, the primary reason for playing the progressive version is that you want to compete for large prizes on the side. Therefore, you’ll likely be motivated to make this bet anyways.

What Kind of Jackpots Are Available?

To answer the original question posed in this post, yes, you can play online blackjack for real money and win progressive jackpots. You just need to know which game providers offer the largest prizes.

As you may know, online casinos use one or more software developers to fill out their game selection. The size of a jackpot depends upon the provider in question.

Any developer can offer a huge prize at any given time. After all, progressive payouts continue growing until somebody wins them.

But on average, a limited number of game providers consistently offer large jackpots. Here are the biggest jackpot payouts at the time of this writing:

• Playtech progressive blackjack – $140,831
• WGS progressive blackjack – $66,455

What Can You Expect With a Blackjack Jackpot Game?

Each progressive online blackjack game varies slightly in terms of rules and side payouts. Generally, though, they all follow a similar pattern.

As mentioned before, you need to make a $1 side bet to compete for the top prize. You also have to place the regular bet as well. These requirements are universal across all game providers.

The jackpot and any associated side payouts are typically based on the first four cards that you receive. Of course, you won’t always draw to four cards based on basic strategy.

Therefore, you aren’t going to qualify for the jackpot on every hand. For those hands when you do qualify, you’ll deal with something similar to the following pay table:

• 4 suited aces: 100% of jackpot
• 4 aces of any suit: 10% of jackpot
• 3 suited aces: $2,500
• 3 aces of any suit: $250
• 2 suited aces: $50
• 2 aces of any suit: $25

You might think that playing progressive blackjack requires a major strategy adjustment. Luckily, though, you don’t need to deviate from basic strategy at all.

You’re supposed to split a pair of aces regardless. That said, you just split aces like normal and hope to get another ace in each hand.

The odds of four consecutive suited aces falling in your hand are just 1 in 4,392,609. Of course, nobody said winning six figures or mid-five figures was easy.

Are Progressive Blackjack Jackpots Worth Playing For?

Again, you don’t have to place the $1 side bet. The only requirement you must meet to play progressive jackpot involves making the standard wager.

But I strongly suggest that you consider placing a side bet the majority of the time. After all, you can play non-progressive blackjack games that may even offer a lower house edge.

Furthermore, the cost to play for the jackpot is relatively cheap. You only have to risk a dollar to chase a prize that’s worth 5-6 figures. You also get to try for other side payouts that can help recoup the cost of your side bets.

The other side of the equation is that, as a low roller, you may feel like the side wager is a significant amount. You’ll especially feel this way if you only place the $1 standard minimum.

In this case, you’re doubling your bet (from $1 to $2) for the small hope of winning a jackpot. Odds are, you won’t be one of the lucky ones who gets four aces and collects a massive payout.

You simply need to weigh the pros and cons of playing for blackjack jackpots before jumping into a progressive jackpot game. Here’s a recap of the advantages and disadvantages:

Conclusion

Blackjack may not offer the type of record-breaking jackpots that slots do. However, you can still play for some big prizes with this game.

You simply need to play at casinos that are supplied by WGS or Playtech. Both providers offer their games to different sets of players, which covers a large part of the world.

The big thing that you must realize going in, though, is that your chances of actually winning a jackpot aren’t great. You’ll get some thrills from chasing big progressive payouts, but you probably won’t ultimately win.

As long as you’re realistic about the matter, though, then you’ll get some enjoyment out of progressive blackjack. You should earn non-jackpot side payouts every now and then too.