Beware of the AGS “Must Award By” Progressives

A few months back I posted about “must-hit by” progressives & gave a how-to on calculations that would give you an indication if a progressive was worth playing at a particular point. What I failed to point out were that those calculations don’t exactly pan out for “must award by” progressives made by AGS.

For whatever reason, AGS must award by progressives are programmed to run to the top end. Must-hit by $5000 almost always go to at least $4990 & the must-hit by $500 to at least $490. I say almost always because there are some advantage players who have witnessed progressives dropping early. But those are few & far between. Because they run to the end advantage players have mockingly called AGS must-hits “must-go-to” instead.

Some have cried foul & to be honest I do agree. For hustlers there is some benefit because there is predictability. You know it’s going to the end. However I do sympathize with the regular customers who play these machines. Gamblers play these machines believing that these types of progressives can drop at anytime. Unfortunately for them they have next to no chance of hitting these AGS progressives. I also feel for the gamblers who sit on an AGS at $4850 or $470 & thinking they got these at a good number. Depending on their bankroll & commitment to chasing, they’re very likely to get crushed chasing at those numbers.

The bottom line is if you see an AGS must award by progressive & interested in playing, expect it to go to the very end. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.