The Jackpot Was a Poker Pot You Needed Jacks to Open
A jackpot is a large prize that builds up until someone wins it. The name comes from a poker variant with a very specific rule.
A jackpot is a prize that grows until it is won. The name is from nineteenth-century draw poker: in *jackpots*, no one could open the betting without a pair of jacks or better, so the pot accumulated hand after hand until someone finally could. Slot machines borrowed the word and made it famous.
- A large accumulated prize. *The lottery jackpot rolled over.*
- A great success (informal). *Hitting the jackpot.*
- Trouble (older American slang). *In a jackpot.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | jackpot | A record jackpot. |
| Plural | jackpots | Two jackpots. |
| Phrase | hit the jackpot | She hit the jackpot. |
| Adjective | progressive | A progressive jackpot. |
| Related | rollover | A rollover week. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Nobody matched all six, so the jackpot rolls over.Lottery language.
- He hit the jackpot with his second book.Figurative success.
- The machine pays a progressive jackpot.One that grows with every play.
Gambling terms in ordinary speech
- Jackpot — the accumulated prize
- Ante up — pay your share, from the compulsory bet
- Poker face — showing nothing
- Wild card — an unpredictable element
- Above board — honest, from keeping hands above the table
An American compound of *jack*, the card, and *pot*, the stake. Recorded from the 1880s in poker and applied to slot machines within a few decades.
What is a progressive jackpot?
One that grows by a fraction of every stake played, sometimes across many machines or many casinos, until someone wins it.
What does *rollover* mean?
That nobody won, so the prize is carried into the next draw and grows.