Gambling terms, explained straight

Slots & Gaming Machines

Jackpot symbols

Jackpot symbols are slot-machine symbols that trigger a jackpot prize, either by landing on a payline or by forming part of a special jackpot-triggering combination.

Applies to
Video slots and progressive-jackpot slots; also used in regulatory language for jackpots awarded based on winning symbols.23
Weighting example
In one slot, a jackpot symbol was weighted by 1 while adjacent blanks were weighted by 6, producing 12 near-misses per hit under Nevada rules.6

Key points

  • The RNG selects a reel-strip outcome, and the game checks whether the displayed symbols meet a jackpot condition.25
  • In progressive slots, jackpot symbols may trigger a bonus or contribute to a growing prize rather than paying a fixed line win.31
  • Jackpot symbols differ from scatter symbols (which work regardless of payline position) and wild symbols (which substitute for other symbols).4
Slots Progressive jackpot Covers the growing prize pool that can be triggered by jackpot symbols or other conditions. Slots Jackpot machine Describes a slot machine that offers a jackpot prize, often a progressive one. Slots Wild symbol Defines wild symbols, which substitute for other symbols to form wins but are not inherently jackpot symbols. Slots Scatter symbol Explains scatter symbols, which trigger features regardless of payline position, unlike most jackpot symbols. Slots Slot machine jackpot Covers the concept of a jackpot on a slot machine, including how it is won. Slots Megaways RTP Megaways RTP is the percentage of all wagered money a Megaways slot is designed to pay back to players over many spins

Sources

  1. GLI_General_Proposal_Template_Letter - gaminglabs.com gaminglabs.com Provides the regulatory and technical definition of jackpot symbols in progressive systems.
  2. Slot Machine Innards wizardofodds.com Explains how the RNG selects reel outcomes and how the game checks for jackpot conditions.
  3. Buffalo Link wizardofodds.com Describes jackpot symbols in the context of a specific progressive slot, Buffalo Link.
  4. Deconstructing Jackpot Party wizardofodds.com Distinguishes jackpot symbols from scatter and wild symbols.
  5. Shopping Spree Progressive Jackpot at $4 Million - Wizard of Odds wizardofodds.com Shows how a progressive jackpot is triggered by a specific symbol combination.
  6. Slots in Specific Jurisdictions wizardofodds.com Provides the reel-weighting example and Nevada's adjacent-stop weighting rule.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.