With almost $3 million in progressive jackpots awarded over a five-week period and at least three prize meters topping $1 million waiting to be hit, table-game players are reaping massive payouts once reserved for slots.
The flurry of top prizes came between December and mid-January via two AGS products that link multiple tables to enable fast-growing jackpots and incorporate slot-style concepts to attract bets. The approach is gaining attention from operators and players, said John Hemberger, senior vice president and general manager of table products at AGS.
“Operators have really taken an interest in becoming part of the development process” for table-game progressives, he said. For example, executives at Graton Casino in Rohnert Park, Calif., surveyed baccarat players about a progressive system that typically generates about two spins per hour with a minimum payout of $50 to $75.
The survey found that Graton players wanted the baccarat bonus spin “to be an event,” offering large lower-level prizes, even if that meant only a couple of spins per day. That led to the creation of the Red Dragon Baccarat Progressive, which pays off when the Bank hand wins with an all-red three-card total of seven. Any player who had made the Red Dragon bet wins and a “hot-seat” winner is chosen at random to spin a wheel for a larger payout. As of Feb. 3, the progressive jackpot was over $517,000.
“That customization was jointly developed with the operator, all the way down to the last detail,” Hemberger said. “And the performance has been spectacular. They nailed what their players were looking for.”
Hemberger said progressive table-game bonuses have evolved since Caribbean Stud first offered a $1 side bet that paid the big prize for a royal flush. AGS offers two progressive systems for table games, Stax and Bonus Spin Xtreme. Hemberger said the payouts for each betting system are totally player-funded. Stax pays off for specific card combinations, such as a seven-card straight flush in pai gow poker and has an option for randomly awarded must-hit-by jackpots. Stax links multiple tables of similar games – blackjack or pai gow tables, for example, with the blackjack progressive increasing separately from pai gow’s.
The proprietary Bonus Spin Xtreme enables the linking of multiple types of games to the jackpot pool. It uses three concentric wheels, which allows the operator to award the top jackpot to one winner, while also providing a payout to all who had made the side bet. Hemberger said the jackpot requires only one seed amount and the multi-game link means the top prizes increase quickly. Nationwide, more than 2,000 table games are linked through Stax and Bonus Spin Xtreme.
The string of recent progressive payouts includes $924,000 on Dec. 21 for Criss Cross Poker Bonus Spin Xtreme at Borgata Casino in Atlantic City; $715,567 on Dec. 12 for Royal 9 Progressive at Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland; $517,927 on Jan. 13 for Criss Cross Poker Bonus Spin Xtreme at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City; and $498,662 on Dec. 16 at Blackjack Match Progressive at Tachi Palace Casino Resort in Lemoore, California. Tachi Palace had an $80,038 Bonus Spin Xtreme payout two days after its half-million-dollar jackpot and Live! Maryland had a $77,470 jackpot 24 hours after its big payout. As of Jan. 29, Chickasaw Oklahoma Properties’ STAX progressive jackpot, linked across all operator’s properties, was more than $2.8 million, while Mohegan Sun had two progressive meters topping $1 million: one a Bonus Spin Xtreme, the other a Super 4 Blackjack STAX.
In December 2023, AGS marked the nationwide launch of Bonus Spin Xtreme on a crap table. This year, AGS has a “huge initiative” of linking live poker rooms to the bonus offerings, Hemberger said. “Early feedback has been quite positive and we’ve got a nice queue of installs coming up.”
Operators can choose whether to limit the jackpot game to the poker room or link poker tables with games on the main floor. A three-card flop consisting of a straight, trips, or straight flush triggers the bonus round. That happens about every 28 to 30 hands, so it doesn’t disrupt the game.
“The customization and flexibility are a real timely part of progressives right now,” Hemberger said. “Operators have been very interested and very invested in partnering with this type of development.”
