Progressive blackjack is a relatively new phenomenon and the principles of how progressive blackjack jackpots are won is very interesting. I had not heard of such a progressive jackpot game until a year ago or so, which means it couldn’t have come out a whole lot earlier than that.

I was surprised because although I like playing any casino game and know the rules to most of them, blackjack is my game of choice when I’m playing at a casino. Before I learned what progressive blackjack was, I wondered how you were suppose to win a progressive jackpot in blackjack.

I was thinking more along the lines of needing to hit a certain number of cards to automatically win like in pontoon, only you needed to hit something crazy like 10 times. That was the only thing that came to mind when your talking about inserting a coin to play the progressive each hand (like Caribbean stud).

Turns out I was wrong, but not completely. That’s not the way the progressive blackjack jackpot is won, although you do have to put in a progressive chip each time you play in order to be eligible for the jackpot. But the real way to win is no less ridiculous.

How to win a progressive blackjack jackpot

You should know how to play blackjack if your thinking about playing this progressive game. I’m not explaining the fundamentals here. In this version of blackjack, only 4 decks of cards are used

In order to win the progressive blackjack jackpot, you must get 4 aces of the same suit consecutively from the first card being dealt. That is all 4 aces in a row from the start of a hand our of 4 decks or 208 cards. Achieving this monumental feat will earn you 100% of the jackpot.

On top of that, the casinos that offer this game tell you that the cards are shuffled after each hand is completed. The probability of getting 4 straight cards out of 208 is ridiculously low (about 1 in 2.5 million hands, if I’ve calculated right).

Here is a screenshot of a hand of progressive blackjack as played at English Harbour casino:

As you can see from above, it is played exactly like blackjack only you have a choice to put a progressive coin in the slot before each hand. You can play up to 5 hands on this progressive blackjack game. The highlighted hand shows although it looks pretty, these two suited aces will not be rewarded on the progressive bet because there is another card.

I hope you are able to make out the rest of the progressive blackjack awards in the screenshot. If not, here is the other prizes that can be won and are slightly more attainable (please excuse my math if it isn’t perfect):

• 4 aces of any suit wins 10% out the jackpot (1 in 250,000 hands)
• 3 aces of the same suit wins $2,500 (1 in 220,000 hands)
• 3 aces of any suit wins $250 (1 in 2200 hands)
• 2 aces of the same suit wins $50 (1 in 900 hands)
• get dealt a pair of aces and win $25 on your progressive bet (1 in 170 hands)

I can’t stress this enough. When you are betting the progressive in this blackjack game, you have to get two aces dealt to you before you are eligible to win anything from the progressive jackpot.

Where can I play progressive blackjack?

There are two different software makers for this style of progressive blackjack game: Vegas Technology and Playtech. The version above shows the Vegas Technology version of progressive blackjack. Here is a screenshot of the progressive blackjack game from a Playtech casino, in this case Golden Palace:

* Note – US players cannot bet at Playtech casinos

There are only slight differences between these two games. The main one being how much is paid for progressive jackpot hits. You’ll notice that the 3 suited aces pays out more than the 4 unsuited aces. This is because each of these have almost the same likelihood of hitting.

Also, this version is a little more friendly on the progressive bettor. You will win 5 times your progressive bet if the first card you receive is an ace.

Conclusion

This is definitely a unique take on the game of blackjack. But first and foremost, you must be very comfortable enough with your blackjack skills to make the progressive jackpot worth betting at.

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