Record Beach Life Jackpot Hit

While one anonymous online slots fan is rejoicing, thousands of others were dejected to log onto their favorite onlne casino to see that the record jackpot at Beach Life slots had been hit over the weekend to the tune of $8,211,488.

Beach Life had soared past its previous record high of $4.8 million (which was hit in July 2007) and cracked the $8 million mark for the first time before the jackpot was hit on Sunday, February 12. The winner's details have yet to be revealed, including which casino powered by Playtech software they were playing at; popular casinos using the software include Europa Casino, Swiss Casino, and Titan Casino.

Beach Life is a 5 reel 20 payline progressive slot, with the jackpot triggered when playing all 20 paylines and hitting five sun symbols on the 20th payline; other popular Playtech progressives include Gold Rally, Ironman 2 Ultimate, Blade, and SafeCracker.

The last year has seen some very large online progressive jackpots handed out, with Mega Moolah and Major Millions (both found on casinos using Microgaming software) paying out very large jackpots as well; unfortunately it's slim pickings at the moment for both Mega Moolah and Major Millions -- which are just over the $1 million mark each at the moment.

Progressive jackpots are a popular option at online casinos, which use the tried-and-true method used by brick-and-mortar casinos to lure in new players and generate more revenue and play. With a small portion of the money generated from each spin of the reels feeding the shared jackpot, players have the chance to win millions on each spin instead of only being able to hit a smaller maximum jackpot of just a few thousand dollars.

Many online casinos offer progressive jackpots on games other than just slots, with games including Pai Gow, Caribbean Stud, video poker, and more offering progressive paydays for players making an additional bonus bet and hitting a very rare hand such as a royal flush or a straight flush.