If you’ve ever been to Australia or even just gone to a website for an online casino, you’ve probably heard or seen the word “pokie” used. The most common type of slot machine is called “pokies.”
Australia is one of the few places where gambling machines can be set up outside casinos. Because of this, Aussie players spend much more time playing pokie titles than players in any other country. This article will also tell you everything you need to know about slot machines, also called pokies.
Pokies Meaning
Pokers are also known as “pokies.” By definition, a pokie machine is the most basic type of gambling machine available today. In the early days of digital entertainment, Australian gamers immediately liked these early gambling machines. These gamers came up with the term “the pokies.”
Aristocrat Leisure is an Australian company that has been around since 1953. The company was in charge of bringing pokies to the country for the first time. Aristocrat is still the most well-known company in Australia that sells these machines to businesses.
Even though video slot games have replaced most poker machines, Australians still call them “pokies,” even though the term “poker” no longer applies.
Australian Gaming Machines - What Are They?
In Australia, there are about 200,000 different kinds of gaming machines. Even though only a small number of them are pokie machines, players in the area call them all “pokie.”
At several clubs and pubs, you might find every kind of poker machine, from simple mechanical poker games to high-tech video slots with a crazy number of features and ways to win cash.
If you look at the slot machines in NZ online casinos with free spins offers, you’ll find video poker games, old three-reel classic slots with a single payline, and modern machines with dozens of paylines.
Australia's best online pokies and machines cost about $14 billion every year, making them the country’s most popular way to gamble. Most of the money made from gaming in Australia comes from these machines.
The machines’ popularity is likely due largely to the fact that they offer a lot of entertainment through different images, animations, and sounds meant to keep the players’ attention.
Origin of the “Pokie” Term
The word “pokies” came from Australia in the early 1990s. This was around the same time that slots became popular in Australia, and many people became addicted to them. The letter “pok” in the phrase “poker machine” is where the word “pokie” comes from.
You may already know that Australians like to shorten words to their abbreviated forms, like “relative” to “rellie,” “surfer” to “surfie,” “mosquito” to “mozzie,” etc. Hence, it makes sense that “poker machine,” which is hard to say, would be shortened to “pokie.”
When slots became more popular and were put next to these machines, it became easier to call all of the gambling machines in the room “pokies.” The word has caught on, and all slots and video poker games in online gambling are also called “pokies.”
The word “pokies” is only used in Australia and New Zealand, but the games are played in almost every country. Whether you call them pokies, slots, or fruit machines, gaming machines are fun, interesting, and sometimes even addicting.
How Do Pokies Work?
Whether we’re talking about live pokies, which you can find in casinos and pubs all over Australia, or online pokies, which you can find at online casinos, the way they work is pretty much the same.
Despite what most people think, these games are completely by chance. The computer decides the outcome of each spin as soon as you press the spin button. Facial recognition tech patents could be a feature, but it’s a plan for a distant future now.
But every slot is set up to give the player less reward at the end of the game than it took in at the beginning. This means that if the game goes on long enough, everyone will always lose funds.
Most online pokies have RTP rates of over 95%, which makes them more generous than their land-based counterparts. Still, even a loss rate of 3% to 4%, which is pretty typical for online slots, is big.
Video Poker Games in Modern Times
Even if you think you cannot win every time you play a slot machine, you should still give yourself a chance at the jackpot because Lady Luck may be on your side.
During a session, some players may lose at a return rate much higher than the true RTP, while other players may do better and make money in the short term. Some slots, especially those that can be played online, have jackpots that can change a player’s life and make up for all the funds they’ve lost on other wagers.
To keep you from getting caught up in silly superstitions, here are a few basic things you should know about how slots work:
Pokies Are Random
“Pokies” is mostly used in Australia. Since Australians play slot machines and video poker machines in game clubs more than anyone else, it shouldn’t be a surprise that these kinds of addictive gambling places have their own slang name.
Contrary to what most people think, pokies use random number generators to make combinations that are as close to chance as the technology can get right now. Most of the time, pokies, or slot machines, have nothing to do with skills. Although skills can also help your chances.
Slots Are Not Fixed
Most gamers have, at some point, been tricked into thinking they were playing on a rigged machine. Slot machines already have a negative RTP, so they don’t need to be changed in any way to steal your money.
You Are Not Entitled to Win in Slot Machines
Just because you’ve lost before doesn’t mean you’re due for a win. Every spin is random, so you can’t tell if you’ll have a lot of good luck or bad luck. There is no such thing as being entitled to win a contest.
Every Pokie Is Programmed to Beat You
If you play online slots for a long time, you will lose all your money. The easiest way to keep your losses to a minimum in Australia’s best online pokies is:
- Make small bets,
- Play for less time,
- Stick to a certain amount of money in your bankroll,
- Take advantage of free spins to spin the reels without losing money in one armed bandits.
Conclusion
In Australia, pokies are one of the most popular and often played casino games. A large percentage of the tens of thousands of people who play pokies daily do so because they are easy to play than the rest. No matter the amount you bet, you can win big money for small bets. But to be good at the game, you must know how it’s played inside and out.