Getminted MegaJackpots® - Interesting / Unusual Promotion...

[Slotster!]

I received this promotional email from Getminted; the Megajackpots is network wide so I'm wondering if other organisations are taking part.

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MegaJackpots® £1 Million Cash Giveaway
1 May – 31 August 2013

On 23 April 2013, the MegaJackpots® jackpot meter will be lowered in order to fund a series of exciting cash prize giveaways to players. That’s right, the £1 Million MegaJackpots® Power Prize Draw is giving away £1 MILLION CASH! That’s £250,000 a month, with a whopping final reward of £100,000 for one lucky winner at the end of August 2013.

Simply wager a total of £1 on any MegaJackpots® game to gain entry into the first weekly draw, from the 1st - 5th May 2013, where you could win a share of £50,000. Every additional £10 wagered gains you an additional ticket into the prize draw, so what are you waiting for?
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So when they say "lowered" - do they mean taking away from the existing progressive, or future contributions will go towards this prize pot?

Is this a good idea?

Is it right they should be doing this if people have already contributed?

I just thought it was an unusual one.

Certainly the numbers involved must be very tempting for regular slots players.

Basically, taking a lump of cash from the progressive and throwing it out @ the players instead of one big hit.

I don't think I've ever come across anything like this before.

 

[SlotKing]

Sounds like the actual progressive amount will be lowered, as referenced by the way it is worded...

On 23 April 2013, the MegaJackpots® jackpot meter will be lowered...

Question is this... What if it hits before tomorrow? IIRC, the MegaJackpot meter begins at £1.5M... An annuitized jackpot of £500K (after they "lower" the meter by £1M) doesn't sound as appetizing as £1.5M (all MegaJackpot progressives are annuitized also IIRC).

Aside from all of that though, Getminted is making it sound like they know it won't hit by then, or anytime in the near future... If this is the case, what would be the point chasing an unattainable goal?

Seems kind of an odd promo to me... taking contributions to a progressive off of the progressive and giving it away in a drawing... although 3Dice did something like that when they retired Super5 a while back.

 

[Slotster!]

Seems kind of an odd promo to me... taking contributions to a progressive off of the progressive and giving it away in a drawing... although 3Dice did something like that when they retired Super5 a while back.

Yeah - this is what I thought. A bit of an odd one. It's understandable throwing the money back if the game is being removed - but it's a promotion / incentive to actually play the game. That they are taking the money from?!?

Maybe someone can explain it better.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

This is how Kerching explained it in a promo email I received.

 

[Scooter7]

I was all set to post comments about how farking stupid this concept is and how you can't simply rip-off the player-funded jackpot in an arbitrary fashion, but then I did a little digging and found this from 2 years ago in New Jersey:

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It seems they can simply pocket the money nowadays instead of being forced to move it to another progressive game.


Washington state is better, but not by much:

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[Slotster!]

I was all set to post comments about how farking stupid this concept is and how you can't simply rip-off the player-funded jackpot in an arbitrary fashion, but then I did a little digging and found this from 2 years ago in New Jersey:

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It seems they can simply pocket the money nowadays instead of being forced to move it to another progressive game.


Washington state is better, but not by much:

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

It's a weird one isn't it. I guess lots of people will now get the chance if a share as opposed to one big winner. Like someone else said up there though - how do/did they know it won't /wouldn't be hit before they launched this promotion??!?

 

[paul@bgo]

Hey All,

Just wanted to chirp in - this is an IGT promotion and is being run with the support of the licensing jurisdictions. Absolutely no money will go into the pockets of operators or IGT I assure you. bgo will also be taking part - the weekly tournaments will begin on 1st May and it's a totally random prize draw being done by IGT, so no operator can 'favour' anyone in particular. I think it's a cracking idea personally, someone will walk away with £100k at the end of August for nothing more than a £1 spin!

 

[Scooter7]

Hey All,

Just wanted to chirp in - this is an IGT promotion and is being run with the support of the licensing jurisdictions. Absolutely no money will go into the pockets of operators or IGT I assure you. bgo will also be taking part - the weekly tournaments will begin on 1st May and it's a totally random prize draw being done by IGT, so no operator can 'favour' anyone in particular. I think it's a cracking idea personally, someone will walk away with £100k at the end of August for nothing more than a £1 spin!

I think it takes money that players put into the system with the expectation of having a chance to win it via the (at the time) only means possible and gives it away in a manner previously unavailable.

If a new progressive game was created and the rules indicated that there would be periodic giveaways if the jackpot reached a certain point, then I think it might just be a 'cracking idea'.

 

[paul@bgo]

I think it takes money that players put into the system with the expectation of having a chance to win it via the (at the time) only means possible and gives it away in a manner previously unavailable.

If a new progressive game was created and the rules indicated that there would be periodic giveaways if the jackpot reached a certain point, then I think it might just be a 'cracking idea'.

I absolutely see what you're saying but I guess they think this is the best and fairest way of paying out the jackpot. Like I say I know that the licensing jurisdictions have been involved in this idea and they have approved of it so every penny contributed will go back to the players. I'm sure there are players out there who have played an awful lot of money on these games and were expecting to continue playing until the jackpot was won - these players will probably feel hard done by because their target jackpot has been reduced, but sometimes tough decisions have to be made for whatever reason they feel it is necessary to do this.

 

[vinylweatherman]

I absolutely see what you're saying but I guess they think this is the best and fairest way of paying out the jackpot. Like I say I know that the licensing jurisdictions have been involved in this idea and they have approved of it so every penny contributed will go back to the players. I'm sure there are players out there who have played an awful lot of money on these games and were expecting to continue playing until the jackpot was won - these players will probably feel hard done by because their target jackpot has been reduced, but sometimes tough decisions have to be made for whatever reason they feel it is necessary to do this.

This could backfire. Some players may feel that the change has been made because the jackpot has not been won for a while. A few may go as far as to think this is some kind of fudge to cover up a discovery that the jackpot has grown this large because a system error has been discovered that made winning it the proper way next to impossible.

A far fairer way would have been to alter the probability table behind the jackpot to make it hit more often.

It is not overly high when compared with other networked progressives that have gone past 5 Million before being hit. When Microgaming first brought out Mega Moolah, the jackpot grew all the way to over 5 Million before it was hit, and this alone was enough to get some players thinking the game had been "rigged" in order for the payout to be granted "world record" status for an online jackpot. It didn't help that after hitting at over 5 million, it appeared to settle down to hitting more often and at lower values.

The problem now is that having done this once, they are likely to do it again, and again. This means that players chasing the big hit would always have the prospect of having a large chunk removed from the pot to fund additional promotions billed as "fairer".

It also seems that the organisers are pretty damn confident that their efforts will not be made in vain by a player hitting the jackpot before the deadline. Surely the ONLY way to be this sure would be to remove the game as soon as this promo is announced, and then reinstate it with the adjusted pool after the promotion has begun.


Now, what if Microgaming announced it was taking a million from the Mega Moolah pool to fund one of it's "Grand Slam" MPV tournaments? In the past, Microgaming have put up their own money for these, probably including a contribution from operators. This MegaJackpots draw is being run from "somebody else's money", and should really be funded by new money coming from the provider and operators, just as with Microgaming

 

[akrus88]

I think it is a great promotion. Couldnt it be thought as the Jackpot is seperated to many smaller jackpots?
Ofcourse there is problem because some of the people that has contributed for the jackpot may miss this promotion and wont have the chance getting part of the jackpot money.

Edit: reasonable think to be done, would give these "lotto tickets" for the people who have contributed for that jackpot. For example if yo have wagered 30€ in that slot before, you would get 1 ticket, if you have wagered 3000€ youd get 100 tickets etc.

 

[paul@bgo]

All good points VWM. I must be honest and say I haven't read too much into it myself, the decision has been made by them and we as operators weren't consulted about it, only offered the opportunity to take part on behalf of our players. Naturally I signed up to it, who doesn't want free promotional cash to give away to people? I guess you can only rely on the credibility of IGT being a huge, insanely reliable game supplier and trust that everything is above board.

 

[SlotKing]

All good points VWM. I must be honest and say I haven't read too much into it myself, the decision has been made by them and we as operators weren't consulted about it.

My first question there is... Why? Why would IGT, one of the leading suppliers of software and machines out there, whose reputation is beyond repute, risk alienating both players and operators alike by not consulting with them about something like this? As good as this promo sounds, £1M being arbitrarily taken from a jackpot pool without either players' or operators' consent is a VERY risky move, and one that could backfire in a bad way should a player (or an operator) complain to the right people.

...only offered the opportunity to take part on behalf of our players. Naturally I signed up to it, who doesn't want free promotional cash to give away to people?...

Of course operators are going to sign up for this... should a player win by this promo at their property they will naturally get some free publicity... But then again, what about the players who contributed to the jackpot specifically for the purpose of attempting to win said jackpot? Seeing the money I contributed used for a purpose different than its designation would, personally, piss me off. I can't speak for the volumes of other players out there, but there must be at least a few others who share my view.

 

[Slotster!]

I'm more dubious about the fact that they must've pretty much been CERTAIN it wasn't going to drop before the launch of the promotion... Maybe they just guaranteed to put the million quid in either way. Getting loads of promo email about this now from all the relevant operators.

 

[SlotKing]

I'm more dubious about the fact that they must've pretty much been CERTAIN it wasn't going to drop before the launch of the promotion... Maybe they just guaranteed to put the million quid in either way. Getting loads of promo email about this now from all the relevant operators.

Kerching's e-mail above put in the requisite "if it doesn't hit before..."... but you're right... the whole thing was quacky from the start. IGT must have taken a look at the jackpot, said "let's come up with some scheme to give at least SOME of this away", and conjured up this promo. I can pretty much GUARANTEE if it got up this high without going, it will once again hit this level and will not hit. See next paragraph as to why.

Someone PLEASE correct me if I am wrong, but my belief is that a progressive is awarded based on what the JACKPOT is at, and not based on timing, when you hit the button, etc. Under this theory, the jackpot will get to a certain point, and then the first spin at or after that point playing the required bet will trigger the progressive. This is how I thought a progressive works(ed).

If what I said above is true, then the jackpot will once again get to the point it was at before IGT removed the money without getting hit. That is, of course, unless IGT steps in and re-randomizes the amount that the progressive will hit at.

 

[Scooter7]

Someone PLEASE correct me if I am wrong, but my belief is that a progressive is awarded based on what the JACKPOT is at, and not based on timing, when you hit the button, etc. Under this theory, the jackpot will get to a certain point, and then the first spin at or after that point playing the required bet will trigger the progressive. This is how I thought a progressive works(ed).

Incorrect, actually.

Every spin, there would be a 1 in x chance of hitting the correct conditions for a jackpot.
Adjustments in probability are likely programmed in to account for coin denomination, but otherwise, every spin would have the same chance of being a jackpot winner.

 

[SlotKing]

Incorrect, actually.

Every spin, there would be a 1 in x chance of hitting the correct conditions for a jackpot.
Adjustments in probability are likely programmed in to account for coin denomination, but otherwise, every spin would have the same chance of being a jackpot winner.

Thanks Scooter... Guess I can't believe everything I read...

I still think it's a risky thing for IGT to do. I would not chance a stellar reputation for a drop-in-the-bucket sum (at least to IGT) of £1M. Let the jackpot go to one of those feeding it. It's precisely what they're playing those games for.

 

[aceking123]

easy way to settle it . make sure you program it to go off more often then you would not need to do these crappy promos & mess about with stuff )