Powerbucks Bounty O'Bucks

Expert’s Verdict

3.0 Great

Jordan Marley

Megabucks is everything you'd want from a land-based slot; a loud, colorful, classic-styled title with a frankly outrageously large progressive jackpot! However, if you're like us and you favor (and are perhaps used to) online slots, there's going to be some stuff you don't like. The RTP of under 90% isn't great and while it can be found with some online progressives (hello again, Mega Moolah) there are substantially more that surpass 90% and even 95% in many cases. The lack of bonus features is a downside to this IGT slot title too.

All in all, Megabucks is essentially just packaging for the progressive jackpot potential. That's the focal point of the slot and if you're not going for that (i.e., not wagering at least $3 per spin), then there's not a lot of point.

If you do fancy your chances at being the next name on the exclusive list of Megabucks jackpot millionaires, however, feel free to visit your local casino and have a go!

For Megabucks Slot, we give this game a rating of 3/5. To learn more about our assessment and grading of casinos and games, check out our How We Rate page. We work closely with the independent regulatory bodies below to ensure every player on our site has a secure and reliable experience.

Key information

RTP

-

Volatility

-

Max win

-

Bets (min/max)

-

Bonus features

-

Paylines

-

Software

IGT

Layouts

Unknown

How to Play Megabucks Slot Machine

The original Megabucks slot machine was a simple three-reel, one payline affair. However, the slot has evolved since then and now offers a more impressive 60 paylines across five reels.

Outside of the progressive jackpot potential, there are no bonus features (which is more common in land-based games than online slots) but the multi-payline setup allows for the chance of regular winning combinations.

The symbols that make up those wins are in the classic fruit machine style with cherries, lemons, and other fruits filling the reels, along with the traditional 7s.

As this is a brick-and-mortar slot, you'll need to find a casino that offers it. Once you do, you can bet from $1 per spin. However many prefer to bet the maximum of $3 as anything less than this per spin and you will not be eligible for the progressive jackpot.

This makes Megabucks a high-roller friendly slot as the budget of lower rollers can disappear quickly at $3 a spin. We feel there are online progressives with lower minimum bets that are more worthy of consideration for players on a smaller budget.

How to Win on Megabucks Slot Machine

The biggest jackpot on the Megabucks slot is, of course, the progressive jackpot. In recent years, this jackpot has been set at a minimum $10 million which means, incredibly, this is the smallest amount you'll win if it triggers. A guaranteed life-changing sum for sure!

While it's not common for it to drop, more than 20 players have picked up well over the $10 million minimum. The reason for such a high jackpot is that Megabucks is a wide-area progressive, or WAP Jackpot slot, the first of its kind in the world. This means all Megabucks machines within a specific region share one jackpot network.

Winning the jackpot is as simple as it is random. You have no bonus feature to trigger, no wheels to spin, you just have to fill a payline with Megabucks symbols and the jackpot is yours. Easier said than done, as just 22 Megabucks slot winners across more than 15 years prove but there's always a chance.

RTP & Volatility in Megabucks Slot

There are two ways a slot's behavior is shown; the most well-known is the return-to-player percentage (RTP). The RTP of a slot shows how much it would hypothetically payout across an infinite number of spins.

The average slot RTP is somewhere around the 95-96% mark, while Megabucks is well below this at less than 89%. Essentially, you're winning a little over $88 per $100 spent, although this is an average and is far from a guarantee on any set number of spins.

For an online slot, this low RTP would cause a rapid loss of interest from players (which might be why this slot isn't available at online casinos) but for a land-based slot, it's more acceptable.

The other way to assess a slot's behavior is volatility. Also known as variance, the volatility of a slot suggests the pattern of payouts. For example, a high volatility slot may pay out big amounts but rarely, while low variance titles tend to favor the little and often approach.

As a medium variance slot, Megabucks lands in the middle of the two, meaning you could be waiting a while and get just a little payout, or you could make two big wins in succession. This makes the slot difficult to predict but as this is a completely random game type, that could be said of any slot.

How Do Megabucks Slot Winnings Compare to Other Slot Games?

There are very few slots that can compete with Megabucks in terms of the jackpot amount. While there are some online slots like NetEnt's Hall of Gods and Microgaming's Mega Moolah that have been known to cross the $10 million threshold for wins, starting at a minimum $10 million gives Megabucks the advantage. That being said, Megabucks has historically paid out its jackpot less frequently than the above titles.

Play Alternative Megabucks Slot Games on Mobile

As it is not an online slot, Megabucks cannot be played on mobile casinos. Again, there are many alternatives available to players here. If you're looking for high-quality progressive jackpot titles that you can play on your smartphone or tablet, we suggest Mega Fortune Dreams from NetEnt or Playtech's expansive Age of the Gods slot series.

These and other online slot games offer a great mobile experience thanks to a user centric design with touchscreen capabilities for a fully immersive experience.

Megabucks Slot Bonuses

The one place Megabucks really loses out when compared to other slots, especially those available online, is in the lack of bonus features on offer. With even the progressive jackpot just landing randomly on the reels, there is nothing to trigger here in terms of free spins, pick and clicks, or any other bonus features.

This is, for us, one of the big advantages of online slots. Not only do you have substantially more options than in any land-based casino but there are video and Vegas slots with a host of different features, from traditional free spins to more obscure approaches (check out NoLimit City and Relax Gaming slots for that).

Play Free Online Slot Games

Unfortunately, there is no way to play Megabucks for free but we offer a host of free online slot games for you to try. From video slots to progressives, playing free slots isn't just fun, it's also a great way to get to know how a slot and its features work before you enter a real-money casino and play online or in-person. Whether you're intrigued by a bonus round, or you want to make sense of a more complex reelset like a MegaWays title, freeplay gives you all that opportunity without any risk to your bank balance.

Other Megabucks Slot Games to Play Online

Progressive jackpot slots were popular in the land-based casino world long before Megabucks' 2005 release. This popularity increased further with the rise of this game type online through titles like the aforementioned Mega Moolah, Mega Fortune, and latterly Age of the Gods, as well as the 99% RTP Mega Joker from NetEnt and Yggdrasil's Joker Millions.

Visit any of our recommended online casinos, and you're likely to find a host of progressive jackpot slots to choose from.

If you're not close to a land-based casino that offers Megabucks, or you just prefer to play your favorite slots when and where you like, there are many other options available. Online progressive jackpots often provide more features and higher RTPs than Megabucks can.