jackpot
The largest prize in a game of chance; also, any sudden great success or reward.
Definition of jackpot
the top prize in a lottery, slot machine, or game show, especially one that grows until someone wins it
Nobody matched all six numbers, so the jackpot rolled over to the next draw.
in draw poker, a pot that can be opened only by a player holding a pair of jacks or better, and that accumulates when no one can open
The old rule book explains how a jackpot was built up hand after hand.
an unexpected and very large success or reward, often in the phrase hit the jackpot
The small bakery hit the jackpot when a food critic praised its croissants.
About jackpot
The jackpot began as a technical term in draw poker in the United States in the 1880s. Under the jackpot rule, a player needed at least a pair of jacks to open the betting. If no one at the table held such a hand, the cards were reshuffled and every player added another stake, so the pot grew with each round until someone could open. The combination of jack and pot gave the arrangement its name, and the idea of a prize that builds up while no one claims it has stayed at the center of the word ever since.
The term moved to mechanical gaming devices around the turn of the 20th century. Charles Fey, a mechanic in San Francisco, built the Liberty Bell machine in the 1890s, with three spinning reels and a top payout for three bells. Later manufacturers added fruit symbols, and many machines came to hold a separate reserve of coins that paid out on the rarest combination, which operators advertised as the jackpot. In 1986 the Nevada company International Game Technology introduced Megabucks, a system that linked machines in different casinos to a single progressive jackpot that grew with every play.
Lotteries use the word for their first-division prize. When no ticket matches all the numbers, the jackpot usually rolls over to the next draw, which is why the largest prizes appear after long runs without a winner. The record for a single lottery ticket is the 2.04 billion US dollar Powerball jackpot won in California in November 2022. The odds of winning that game's top prize are about one in 292 million, far lower than most players estimate.
Psychologists have long studied why such small chances attract so many people. Research on gambling behavior describes the near-miss effect, in which almost winning produces a response in the brain similar to a real win, and the gambler's fallacy, the belief that a payout is due after a series of losses. Because modern machines use random number generators, each spin is independent of the last. Public health agencies in many countries list jackpot advertising among the factors associated with problem gambling.
Outside gambling, jackpot is an everyday metaphor. A researcher who finds a rich archive, a fisherman who lands a record catch, or a startup that signs a major client may all be said to have hit the jackpot. Video games and quiz shows use the word for their biggest rewards, and in internet slang it is often abbreviated. In Indonesian online speech, for example, the letters JP are widely understood as short for jackpot.
Etymology
First known use: 1881
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonyms
Antonyms
Common questions
Why is it called a jackpot?
The word comes from 1880s draw poker, where a pot could be opened only with a pair of jacks or better. If no one could open, the pot kept growing.
What is a progressive jackpot?
A progressive jackpot is a prize that increases with every play or ticket sold until someone wins it, often linking many machines or outlets into one pool.
What does hit the jackpot mean?
It is an informal idiom meaning to have sudden, great success or good luck, for example by finding exactly what you were looking for.
Cite this entry
MLA“Jackpot.” Dictionary + Thesaurus, 29 Oct. 2026, https://dictionaryplusthesaurus.com/jackpot/.
APADictionary + Thesaurus Editors. (2026). Jackpot. In Dictionary + Thesaurus. https://dictionaryplusthesaurus.com/jackpot/