I have been posting about the stand alone progressives, in other posts and Id have to say those are by far my favorites. Yes, the payouts are much smaller , but the odds are better.
I enjoy a good Wheel Of Fortune session from time to time, but I have never been very lucky on the Wheel Machines. My Aunt and I were playing in Vegas a while back and she came soooooo close!!! First 2 Wheel Of Fortune symbols on the payline and the 3rd just above it!!! You dont even see THAT very often on the Wheel Machines, let alone the actual jackpot. It took a while to recover from that near miss!
Last month, I was playing "Millionaire 7s" at my local Indian Casino. There are about 10 machines total and the progressive, last time I checked is at around 1.8 million. The way you hit it, is only through a bonus round. If you get the 3 symbols on the payline, the reels will respin an unknown amount of times anywhere from 20 dollars all the way up to the progressive. Like a ladder bonus. These machines, I do play quite often because I have had some luck on them. So, I was playing and hit a bonus. The reels respun several times. The highest I have ever gotten on one was $250 and that was only one time. so when this machine got to $1000 I nearly screamed! I was just 2 respins away from the progressive!! It stopped at $1000 which I was very happy with, but for a moment there, I thought I was a millionaire.