Having loads of information about online pokies gathered in one place – isn’t it great? We are such a place and we’re market professionals with years of vast and proactive experience in the area. Now we search for and estimate the best online pokies available for Aussies.
We never drop googling for new casinos and exploring their games. Also, we keep actively monitoring official websites of online pokie providers – they reveal novelties on their pages at times. Also, those existing casinos, which have already recommended themselves well, are under our constant attention – any new pieces are found and explored.
We love to search for something new and exciting, telling our readers about novelties in the area of online pokies, revealing their features, storylines, specialties, features of unique symbols (like scatters), pros and cons, volatility, RTP, compatibility, personal experience (through hours of playing in them), and anything interesting or peculiar, should we find it.
There exist various online pokies. They all have a basic division: the number of reels. They also differ by popularity, country, theme, musical arrangement, visualization, design, idea, number of paylines, the availability of a demo mode (cashless gaming), technology of technical realization (although, with the death of Flash technology, this type of classification no longer exists), language, gaming mechanics, and other details. What’s fun to know is that a pokie has different names in different parts of the world (or has had it during the history): a one-armed bandit, slot machine or simply slot, fruit machine, pokie, slot of chance, chance machine, poker machine, puggy, fruity, or video gambling.
Below, we give definitions of the most popular types of online pokies.
Three-reel online pokies are ones that have three reels on the gaming area, each of which is composed of symbols (a.k.a. pictures or items) appearing on the screen. The first pokies were equipped with large rotating circular structures, which had a rigidly defined sequence of symbols in each such structure. With the advent of technologies applicable for gambling firstly on computer screens and later on – online, the rigid sequence isn’t used anymore and everything is defined by the Random Number Generator software.
3-reel machines are one the most popular gaming machines, together with the following position on our list, 5-reel pokies.
This type differs from the previous with 5 reels instead of 3. This is not a purely mathematical difference, though! By enlarging the reel number by 66%, manufacturers actually allowed making much more winning lines (a.k.a. paylines) than it was possible with the 3-reel predecessor. From the playfield of max 6*3 items on the screen, which formed only tens of paylines in 3-reel pokies, it was now possible to have a 5*6 grid on the field with over 2 hundred paylines! The more of them there are the bigger chances a player has when betting on victory – that’s a pro. But that also deducts from the bankroll faster – that’s a con. Winnings become more significant – that’s a pro. RTP can be lower – that’s a con. But ‘sticky’ symbols on the screen become vividly father diverse and re-rolls with frozen wilds on the screen can make it a huge fun and win – that’s another pro.
In a nutshell, everyone decides what’s better for them: playing 3-reel or 5-reel. The first ones are classic. The second ones are wilder and far more unpredictable.
A progressive jackpo t is a feature of some online pokies (and many lotteries, including national ones), which makes the gaming process far more exciting! The nature of it is as follows: each time a jackpot in a pokie is not won during another spin, some small predetermined amount is added to the general sum of the jackpot. Over time, the jackpot sum grows. At its maximum, jackpot sums can reach tens of millions of dollars! Online pokies can be formed by casinos or gaming manufacturers in pools so a bigger number of gamblers contribute to the sum (in one casino or across several casinos). In the case of pooling, the jackpot can be received by someone from all casinos at once, not just one.
Receiving such a jackpot by a player usually doesn’t depend on any condition. Although, some casinos may require players to make bets not less than X sum to be able to enroll in the jackpot program. For instance, if a gamer wants to participate, then every bet in a progressive jackpot shall be not less than 3 dollars. The winning of this type occurs randomly and is always a pleasant surprise for the receiver. There is no defined threshold of an accumulated jackpot when money is given – it can occur when the sum is tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions. Never know.
After the jackpot is granted to someone, its sum is established at some predetermined initial level, for instance, AUD 5,000, and the scheme of accumulating it reoccurs.
A progressive jackpot is a very effective tool for obtaining and retaining clients.
Everyone aiming at serious winnings shall play for real money. So below we’re listing popular in Australia methods of depositing and payout:
Depositing usually takes only seconds or minutes at most to be completed. Withdrawals, however, usually take from hours to days and sometimes, weeks (days and weeks are more relevant for banking channels like cheques, accounts, and cards). However, reputable online casinos don’t want to make their punters wait, so they accelerate transaction times as best as they can.
Opening an account is quite simple. Most online casinos we’ve seen and played in do not require loads of data from newcomers. The most sought-for information is as follows:
When a gambler decides, where to play – a house that doesn’t support mobile gaming or the one that does – one shall always opt for the latter since modern casinos are obliged to support mobile platforms to cater to the broadest audiences.
Pokies played on mobiles have the following advantages:
Now let’s consider some best-performing video pokies popular in Australia.
This is a five-reel slot with high volatility, playable at all platforms, themed in aquatic style with water ambiance and animals & with 3D graphics. The game includes the scatter symbols, which can trigger 15 free games (where winnings are multiplied by 3). This game is so sought-after that it can be downloaded from both popular platforms – stores of Apple and Android.
It is one of a few pokies, which have their own Wiki page. The NetEnt’s game was launched in 2011, it has a medium variance and 95% RTP (can slightly differ from casino to casino, up to 96%). It has become so popular thanks to its theme: a conquistador in Peru does searches of hidden treasures of Eldorado. The mascot – Gonzo – is fun, positive, and nice to watch.
The pokie has 5 reels, 20 paylines, it is possible to bet between 0.20 and 50 dollars/Euros/pounds for one spin, and the winnings are 2,500x of the bet at max.
This vampire-themed slot was launched by Microgaming Company in 2011. It has 5 reels, 3 rows, and 243 paylines at most. The max winning is 12.150x of the bet. Amongst the special symbols, it is possible to see multipliers, scatters, and transformers. It is possible to receive up to 25 free spins inside the game. The RTP is high, 96.86%. The max bet is 30 Euros/pounds/dollars. The min one is 100 times below that.
Definitely, pokies are insanely popular. But other games attract gamers, too. Let’s look at them.
It is the same thing as one buys a scratch card in a lottery kiosk, where small field(s) is scratch-able by a coin or fingernail. Winnings differ from small to large and can start with a few bucks ending with millions.
To win in this game, one shall collect 21 points using card faces. Thanks to a large strategy list and description of rules (which are fun, not hard), this game has become popular amongst punters all over the world. Also, there are many varieties of this game (each having its own rules and limitations), so before starting playing any, be sure to carefully read its rules in a punter’s house.
This is the most popular game of chance & it can lead to large losses or winnings.
This card game is largely similar to Blackjack but the rules are significantly simpler and the score needed to be collected is different.
Not every newcomer can embrace the rules of craps from the very beginning. Maybe that is why this dice game is not as popular as others are. Still, as it has strategies and a large list of variances, it is played in thousands of casinos all over the world.
The minimum bet in a pokie depends on the rules established by a manufacturer and the casino (if the casino can rewrite the rules of a manufacturer). One line can take bets from 1 cent to 10 dollars. But max limits don’t allow punters to bet too big: most often, the limit is 50 bucks per 1 spin altogether. The min amount per 1 spin is about 5-10 cents (depending on the paylines involved).
The biggest won amount ever exceeds 17 million Euros (in ‘Mega Moolah’ pokie) and it was won in Europe. On average, everyone’s able to win 1-5 Euros per every spin and, if punter’s luck is high, the resulting winnings can be from hundreds of Euros through hundreds of thousands to millions.
Usually, a welcome bonus that’s rendered by casinos isn’t withdraw-able immediately, not before conditions of wager are met (and additional conditions, should they exist). Such additional conditions can form a large list of demands, which is better to be read in the casino’s Terms & Conditions.
It is safe if these requirements are met:
A random number generator alternatively known as RTP, its shortage, is a software tool, which generates numbers in games, which result in round’s outcome, whatever this is: a card face/combination, roulette section, a symbol in a pokie reel, etc. Usage of this tool makes it possible to have an unbiased generating of a number according to the rules of a specific game, which are shown to a player and affect the outcome of the game. A truly random generation of numbers makes sure a fair gaming process for all participating parties.
