You finally leave that Red, White, and Blue. But you truly enjoyed playing it and you've got the symbols and pay-offs pretty much memorized. And toward the end, when the machine began to eat your credits without so much as an occasional thanks, you turned your head and caught sight of yet another Red, White, and Blue. So when you finish with the first one you wander on over to check it out.

It's quarters. Apparently a twin of the one you just left. Same symbols. Identical pay-outs. Buttons are in exactly the same places. Still requires two coins for the jackpot, which is ... the screen doesn't show an amount. On the first machine the pay-off was 400 for one coin, 5,000 for two coins. This one ...you glance up and feel it necessary to blink because the sign is so bright. How in the world could you have missed it ? There is a huge marque parked above an entire roll of these machines. You immediately recognize that you are standing at a Bank of Carousel of machines. A Bank could be any number of machines lined up in a row, back-to-back. A Carousel would be a series of machines placed so that they form a race track shape. The marque is advertising that the jackpot is currently 7,456 and climbing every second. You are standing at a Bank of Progressive machines. All of them are hooked into the marquee. Not all of the 12 machines in the Bank are the same, but any of them will pay the Progressive amount if you can produce a jackpot spin. Some of the machines are basic Double Diamond, there are few Black Ties, but most of them are the Red, White, and Blues like you just left behind.

Being astute, you wonder, but only for an instant, why you weren't playing here in the first place. Same machine, same everything except that the jackpot pays over7,000 instead of a measly 5,000 coins. Fortunately, you already know the answer. You merely needed a few seconds to focus. You know that what the casino giveth with the right hand, they taketh back with the left, you know that a Progressive doesn't pay better, it simply pays differently. Remember? Higher jackpots= fewer winning combinations. Lower jackpots= more frequent winning combinations. This Progressive reached 7,456 because? Of course. It's reached this level because no one has hit it in so long the machines may have forgotten how to produce a jackpot winner. This Red, White, and Blue that you're staring at pays exactly like the old one. So how does the jackpot get so big? The machine retains more in winnings, which it dumps into the fund which finances the huge Progressive jackpot. On the old RWB you would see bars on the center line about once every 20 spins. Now you're going to see bars about once every 45 spins. The 20 that lasted for an hour on the "normal" RWB may only last thirteen minutes at this Progressive. Or, it could win you 7,45...oops, it's already increased to 7,458.