Must-hit-by progressives print either a prize amount or a clock beside the meter, and that print is a deadline the game is built to reach. The meter is constructed so a qualifying spin awards the jackpot by the stated figure or by the stated time. Online slots that carry the label still follow ordinary stake rules. Nothing in the deadline tells a player to lift the coin because the clock looks short or the meter looks close. The help file, not the lobby tile, names which bet levels feed the meter. A spin under that line is base-game play and does not buy a closer seat to the deadline.
What the amount or the clock is for
Raising the stake in the final stretch does not assign a private share of a must-hit-by prize. The deadline belongs to the meter, which every qualifying wager on that progressive jackpot slot is already feeding. If the print is an amount, the design awards the jackpot once play has pushed the meter there. If the print is a clock, the award is tied to that schedule. Neither line means the next spin is owed to the person who just increased the coin. The extra debit is extra exposure on the base game, and the base game pays from its own table whether the deadline is near or not.
The last minutes do not change the coin
Note the deadline, the seed, and the qualifying stake from the help file before any coins move. Keep the stake you already chose when the meter was far from the cap. A close meter is a news fact about the cycle, not an instruction to change the unit. After the hit, the meter returns to its seed and a new cycle starts under the same rules. The figure from an earlier hour belongs to the previous cycle. End the session on the loss number you set before the cashier transfer, even if the clock is still running.