Gambling terms, explained straight

Slots & Gaming Machines

Progressive jackpot lottery

A progressive jackpot lottery is a lottery game where the top prize grows with each draw that has no winner, rolling over until someone claims it.

Also called
Rollover lottery, progressive-prize lottery
How it grows
Ticket sales add to the jackpot; if no winner, the prize rolls over to the next draw and increases further2
Reset
The jackpot resets to a base value when won2

Key points

  • Unlike a fixed jackpot, a progressive jackpot lottery has no cap on the top prize; it can grow to tens of millions before a win.2
  • The mechanism is the same as other progressive jackpots: a portion of each stake funds the prize pool, which carries over until claimed.1
  • Examples include Lotto 649 (odds 1:14 million, jackpot range $3–$64 million) and Powerball (5/53 + 1/42 format).23

Where this term is used

Not the same as

Slots Progressive jackpot The broader category of any jackpot that increases from wagers, covering both lottery and slot versions. Slots Slot machine jackpot A prize paid by a slot machine, which may be fixed or progressive. Slots Progressive whist A card game variant with a progressive scoring system, unrelated to jackpots. Lottery & bingo Jackpot lottery A lottery with a top prize that may be fixed or progressive. Slots Progressive slots vs regular Compares slot machines with progressive jackpots to those with fixed prizes. Slots Slot machine A casino gaming machine that may offer fixed or progressive jackpots.

Sources

  1. Remote gambling and software technical standards (RTS) - 2 gamblingcommission.gov.uk Defines progressive jackpot generally and confirms the mechanism of incremental prize increases from stakes.
  2. Socioeconomic correlates of the lottery rollover effect in ... tandfonline.com Describes the rollover mechanism and provides example odds and jackpot ranges for Lotto 649.
  3. 5. Multiple Jackpot Winners tandfonline.com Provides Powerball format details and confirms the carry-over process.

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.