The hunt is currently on to find the winner of the biggest online jackpot in the history of online casinos. Where is the massive online jackpot up for grabs? None other than 888 Casino, one of the very first and probably the biggest uk casinos around.
And the prize? £8,888,888, naturally.
Jackpots for online casinos are fantastic things - it makes the most hardened, wizened online slots player go weak at the knees, whilst those of us who pay for the mere enjoyment see it as a must-play game with at least some percentage of the monthly casino allowance. It entices new players in and it welcomes lapsed players back. It will even make the odd poker players chance his arm, or feature as the last chance saloon to sportsbook punters who should know better.
And of course the online casino knows how to push our buttons, when these mammoth amounts are finally won. First off, a phone call to the customer to get their reaction. Don't want to be mentioned? No problem, we'll call you 'a man from London'. Give us a quote for the local rag? If you win enough, you'll be more likely to feature on page five of the national tabloids. As well as you wonga, we'll also send you flowers, champagne, cigars, chocolates right away - as top online casino 32Red does - anything to add to the sense of occassion.
Before you count your cash though beware. Although not as common as it was a few years ago - before sites with casino reviews like Casino Geezer caught on - winning punters faced a small problem. Some of the best uk casinos insisted on paying your winnings, but only in stages. So £30,000 a month, for the next 10 years sounds like a really nice problem to have - but when you go through the process of winning, disbelieving, finally believing, press interviews and the like, it is a bit of a blow to learnt this, when all you was looking forward to was a big fat comedy cheque worth £3m and your photo in the paper.
Once you've won, the trick for the casino customer is to know when to cut and run. This is a valuable lesson really for ANY casino winner. What casinos hope and pray for are winners that play some of it back (and straight into the coffers). Some will play a lot back. A few will play all of it back. Some will even play all of it and then some.
For when a jackpot is won, the casino doesn't actually pay. Rather it adds to a common pot (specially those on networks such as InterCasino) each and every time you spin those jackpot reels. So rather than bemoan the fact someone has just won big, it is actually cheering from the rooftops, as they've been saving up the cash for this very occassion.
Human nature is a funny thing. We are said to get used to our 'lot' in life within six weeks of it happening. For online casino players, this means it highly likely that the jakcpot winner wants to do so again. Which means betting again. And chasing the bets. And in most cases, losing the bets.
That's not to say that playing online jackpot slots should be avoided - far from it. Rather treat playing at an online casino like a hobby. Spend what you can afford to lose and make sure you expect to lose - then when you win, it is a bonus.
And if I win a jackpot soon, I'll let you all know how it feels.
