Slot Tutorials

Ways to #landthegrand or Major on Lightning Link and Dragon Link

Dragon Link by Aristocrat Hold and Spin feature
Written by Joshua

Lightning Link and its cousin, Dragon Link, offers four jackpots, with the two most exciting being the Major and the Grand. Some players don’t understand the various ways that a Major or Grand can be won.

Because the jackpots are on the rare side, some haven’t experienced the various ways things can happen, so let’s talk about it in today’s post.

Winning the Grand

Lightning Link by Aristocrat Grand Jackpot

Most players know that landing all 15 symbols will automatically pay the Grand Jackpot, on top of what’s on the balls/lanterns/chips/whatnot that were collected in all 15 symbols.

What many don’t realize is that it can also be won randomly. It’s there in the paytable – “Grand Jackpot may be won randomly after any bought game where 0-5 symbols appear” tells you all you need to know.

Given how rare the Grand is to begin with, it’s unlikely this is seen often in the wild in a casino, but the fact that it exists is a bit exciting.

Lightning Link by Aristocrat lantern prizes

Where it doesn’t exist, and some players get confused by this, is on a ball/lantern/chip/whatnot. Elsewhere in the paytable, it tells you what the possible prizes are. Aside from 1-100x your credits bet, you can have a Mini, Minor or Major… but no Grand. So if you’re hoping a Grand will land on any random space, it unfortunately will not happen.

Winning the Major

Unlike the Grand, we know the Major can appear on a space. But it too can also be won randomly, and it’s no less exciting when it happens. And fortunately, since the Major is a bit easier to win than the Grand, there’s at least some video evidence of this one.

See Diana Evoni win one on her channel; you can catch it around 4:15:

Watch and Learn

RandomSlots is a great channel for seeing the pay tables along with gameplay. The screenshots here were derived from the video below, but they are consistent with all the Lightning Link and Dragon Link families of games.

About the author

Joshua

My name is Joshua, and I’m a slot enthusiast who works in tech as a marketer by day, and dabbles in casinos periodically during off-times. Know Your Slots will reflect my interests in understanding the various ways you can play slots, travel, casino promotions and how you can get the most out of your casino visits.

25 Comments

  • Hi Joshua,
    Do you by chance know the payout maximum on the Lightning Link, Dragon Links, Dancing Drums and Lock It Links for the higher limit Denominations? I know LL is $1000 on lower ones as well as Lock It…I am not able to find this anywhere.

    Thanks so much and good lock on your slot endeavors 🙂

    • Hi Nancy! Generally speaking the high limit Lightning Link starts at dime denomination, so you just add a 0 – so Majors start at $5k and go to $10k.

      Dancing Drums has no upper limits generally, but the starting amounts are usually $10,000 for the grand on pennies, and would therefore be $50k on nickels and $100k on dimes. (Dancing Drums is fixed to a single denomination.) The major starts at $800 on pennies, and so would be $4k and $8k on nickels and dimes, accordingly.

      Finally, Dragon Link only has one version since both low limit and high limit denominations are on the same machine – I haven’t seen an example of it starting at a higher number. (If anyone out there has, please share!) So the Majors and Grands will follow the low-limit Lightning Link – $500-$1k majors and a Grand starting at $10k.

      I hope this helps – if not feel free to reply with any more questions and I’ll be happy to further assist!

      • I actually have seen both high AND low limit versions of Dragon Link.
        The lower limit ones start at $0.01 denomination and go up to a $2 denomination, have smaller jackpots, and when you play the $1 or $2 denominations you only get to play 5 lines.

        The higher limit ones start at $0.10 denomination, have higher jackpots, and let you play more lines at the higher denominations than the low limit version allows (I forget how many though, but it’s more than 5).

        There’s also an ultra-high limit version that starts at the $1 denomination and goes up to a $25 denomination.

        I was wondering though; is there a maximum amount that the progressive jackpots on Dragon Link can reach, and are they more likely, equally likely, or required to hit if they reach that number?

        • I wrote this one up before the launch of high limit Dragon Link – it’s a good reminder for me to review everything in there to make sure it reflects that.

          Dragon Link doesn’t have must hit by thresholds on any version. As far as caps, the Major tends to cap at double its starting point (so $1,000 on low-limit versions, $10,000 on the standard high limit ones and presumably higher on the ultra high limit version). Grands can cap or be frozen as well, depending on the casino’s preferences, but this can vary.

  • Hi Joshua
    I’ve noticed or what seems to happen is people betting $2.5 – $5 a spin or higher
    appear to hit the majors. Compared to myself playing the minimum 50 cent bet. Now after all these years back in February I did hit 2 majors on 2 different machines within 45 minutes with just the minimum 50 cent bets. Do you believe there Is there any truth to this?

    • I once saw a $1,000 major go off by playing 10 lines on a 1 cent denomination. So all in all, it does not matter what denom you play, when the machine has reached it’s goal to pay, it will pay whatever coloured ball it needs to by law of payback of percentages. And BTW, tapping on the machines buttons like a woodpecker on speed does not influence the machine.

      • Thanks Kev! Just to be clear, the ball doesn’t go off when it’s reached its goal – it goes off when the right RNG sequence comes up, and the frequency it comes up aligns with the game’s overall payback structure. I just want to be clear as some players believe games will slow down or speed up paybacks based on its historic payback, but that’s not how the RNG works – every combination must be possible to achieve at any press of the button, meaning it can’t exclude options based on the game’s history.

  • Hi Joshua
    I m wondering if I have 10x denomination my major jackpot also will be times 10? or just same.
    I know mini or minor give 10x exactly. but Major jack or grand jack pot also can be 10x??

    I m confused this question if you do know let me have an answer please

    • Hi there! On Lightning Link, the Major and Grand jackpots is identical for all denominations. Your chances of winning it improves with higher wagers, but the actual prize remains the same. On newer sequels, like Dollar Storm, there are scenarios where the Major does change for the highest denominations, but for Lightning Link and Dragon Link, it’s the same prize for all wagers. Hope that helps!

    • Your chances for winning a progressive (Grand/Major) are proportional to your bet. So lowest denomination, one line (I’m presuming you’re in Australia; you don’t get to choose lines in the US, for instance) will be the lowest odds for a progressive. But you still have the ability to win one, just lower because you’re wagering less.

  • Hi Michael I was playing lighting link Dragon Riches $5 bets and the machine froze the big link Jackpot also froze the manager of the hotel was new to gaming and didn’t know what it meant then after it froze P5 came on they told me I have to find out tomorrow was it possible that I won the Link??

    • Hi Samantha – unfortunately it’s not the sort of thing we can answer. The casino will let you know what’s going on when they meet with you but they would have the information regarding the machine’s malfunction.

  • I have hit the major jackpot on the dragon links it was awesome I won it at a casino on black hawk colorado.

  • I have won the major jackpot on lightning link and dragon link on a $5 bet and $10 bet (high limit). I have heard people say they have landed the Grand by just betting $1.50 or $2 so anything is possible with these slot machines. Chasing some of these Jackpots can be dangerous though. I have a strategy that I’m using and trying to stick with it.

  • I have won 3 grands in the last 3 months in australia!

    Denominations were 50 c 1.00 $ and 1.50$

    We do not have random grand. must obtain the whole 15 to a page to win.

  • Hi Joshua,
    I had credit of $56, and was playing the dragon link machine with the lanterns, I got 6 $ signs and got free spins. Within the free spins I won the grand jackpot as I got all 15 $ signs with paid $500, when I went to collect at counter they paid me out $500 but not my credits I had of $56, which I should have got all up $556, is that correct or thanks Lorraine

    • Hi Lorraine – it’s hard for me to know for sure without being there or whatnot, but generally speaking, if they had to pay you out separately because of a handpay scenario, which getting the grand on such game would generally yield, whatever credits were left in the machine at the time of the handpay remain there. So you’d still need to cash that ticket out separately and cash it in separately.

  • If 2 people gamble on 1 card does that change the percent pig won bets 2.50 and the other bets 50 cents

  • I actually hit the Grand in Vegas at Ballys in 2021…I have video of it! It was a max bet ($5).

    But the Grand does exist! I’ve been a chasing another one ever since!

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