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Online Pokies: An Ultimate Guide

It seems like everybody knows what pokies are. Spinning reels, matching symbols, hitting big wins — these are the core aspects of playing pokie machines everybody are familiar with. But you will be surprised by how much more there is to discover about these games. Despite the simplicity of this casino entertainment, there are a multitude of factors that influence the outcome of each gambling session. Have you always wondered how you can boost your chances of winning in online pokies? This article is just right for you!

The Gunsbet team decided to figure out an ultimate guide to online pokies. There are so many articles all over the Internet that try to explain the peculiarities of the Australian players’ favorite casino attraction. But the majority of these posts often fall short to provide a comprehensive guide on every essential aspect related to online pokie machines.

We want to make things right here in Gunsbet casino, that’s why this article will answer all of your questions. And to tell you quite frankly, there is a lot to discuss. What is the best pokie machine to play in Australia? How to win on pokies? Is there a method on how to cheat pokies? These are the topics that still make waves in the gambling community, spurring hottest online debates. We are here to solve these issues for good.

Over many years, we studied the online gambling market, and how it works for Australian players in particular. Due to our vast experience, we’re confident that we can provide you with the most relevant and helpful information on the subject matter. The simplicity of online pokies shouldn’t deceive you into thinking that there is nothing much to say about them.

This ultimate guide to online pokies will most certainly extend your knowledge on the topic. Of course, the real mastery only comes with practice, but it will be a lot easier for you to practice your pokie skills after reading our article. So, let’s not waste our time — there is a lot to learn!

What are pokies?

It seems logical to start with the basics before discussing more advanced aspects so that players with little experience could learn everything gradually. However, if you’re an expert Australian player, you might also learn something new from this section. We’ve compiled all the relevant information that is related to the origins of online pokies.

First of all, let’s discuss how the term “pokies” emerged and what it originally meant. Essentially, pokie is an Australian slang term for a slot machine. Why is it called like this by Aussie gamblers? There are several explanations that could be found on the Internet. However, for the sake of saving your time we’ll discuss the one that seems to be the most clarifying and logical to us.

Actually, there are two main factors that influenced the emergence of the word “pokies.” The first factor is, of course, the popularity of casino games in Australia. First examples of Aussie land-based casinos could be traced all the way back to the beginning of the 20th century. At the time, slots were mainly poker machines. The reels were packed with card suits, and your goal as a player was to collect the best possible hand, just like in regular poker.

Mechanical poker machines were replaced with more advanced video poker slots in the middle of the 20th century. Gambling industry evolved, and thus more diversity was introduced into the gameplay slots. Classic video slots with fruit symbols on the reels were created. Usually, they were placed in the same areas where poker machines were installed. And since poker slots were more familiar, Australian gamblers began to name slots in general “poker machines’.

But where did the word “pokies” come from? Considering the information that we mentioned previously, it wouldn’t be difficult to put two and two together. Aussies are well-known for their tradition to shorten the words or whole expressions for speech convenience. Examples are easy to find: “Straya” for “Australia”, “g’day” for “good day”, “mozzie” for “mosquito”, and so on.

Can you see the connection? Of course you can, as it is a lot easier to say “pokie” than “poker machine”. That’s how this word describes all the variations of slot games that are available nowadays for Australian gamblers. We hope that his section was helpful for you to understand why slot machines in Australia are called pokies. Now that we know the basics, it is time for us to dive deeper into various gameplay mechanics that exist in online pokies.

Types of pokies and slot machines

People who aren’t familiar with the casino industry tend to think that online pokies are all the same and that they are boring to play. Most of the time, non-gamblers get their impressions about poker machines from movies or over-exaggerated ads. Thus, they start to believe that everything the gambling industry has to offer is spinning one row of three reels waiting for some cherry symbols to line up.

However, it is as far away from the truth as possible. In fact, online pokies would hardly get anywhere near their current level of popularity if they offered one and the same gameplay over and over again. Of course, the fundamental mechanics remain the same: you spin reels in order to test your luck and line up a winning combination. But what non-gamblers disregard the most is the diversity of types of online slots and the multitude of features that make the game more interesting.

Even if you’re a seasoned gambler, you might still walk away from this section with some new knowledge. Although you might have come across all the types of online pokies, there is a good chance that you still don’t know some of their peculiarities. That’s why this section of our ultimate guide is also of high importance. To save your time, we will talk only about three most popular types of pokies in detail. All other minor variations will be discussed briefly in one subsection.

3 Reel Pokies

This is an absolute classic. This is where the history of pokies started. It began long before the rise of internet technologies and even before the first video poker machine was invented. People around the world already enjoyed pokie machines in the late 19th century, to be exact. Over one hundred years ago, pokies were mechanical — you needed to pull the lever to start spinning the reels. Needless to say, the mechanical nature of first pokies made it very easy to cheat on them. Nowadays, gambling software from licensed providers has top-notch protection. But we’ll touch upon the security issues later in the article, now let’s focus on our classic 3 reel pokies.

These online pokies are the first thing that comes to mind when someone thinks of a slot machine, especially if they’re not that experienced in gambling. In the early days of gambling, such pokie machines were pretty much the only variety of this casino attraction. 3 reel pokies represent the most basic kind of slot gameplay. To hit a win, all you have to do is match three identical symbols in a row. These combinations of winning symbols are called slot paylines. You can bet on a single payline, several ones, or all paylines at once (this is usually called the Max Bet).

Why 3 reel online pokies are so great? There are several factors that contribute to the enjoyment of playing these games. This list will help you to understand if this kind of pokie machine is appealing to your playing style.

First of all, it’s generally easier to keep track of the gameplay. The possibilities of winning are restricted to matching three identical symbols on one line. Thus, it is much easier to predict your chances and manage your funds within a gambling session.
This point is an extension of the latter advantage. The maximum amount of paylines in a 3 reel pokie slot is 27. However, in the majority of cases, software developers implement somewhere between five to nine paylines, and some online pokies are limited to a single payline only. This feature adds up to the simplicity of such pokie machines.
It’s easier to hit a jackpot on a three-reel pokie. Once again, the restriction of matching only three symbols in a row creates a limitation of possible combinations, which makes jackpots to be more probable. If you’re a jackpot hunter, this feature will certainly be lucrative for you.
Wins are quite large on 3 reel pokies. Usually, all available paylines on such pokies provide you with a great payout rate. In case you don’t play with micro bets, winnings from three-reel pokie machines could be really substantial.

Why 3 reel pokies might be a turnoff to some Australian players? Despite having some really great perks, pokie slots with three reels also have some downsides to them. In fact, these downsides couldn’t be really called flaws, instead, they are merely the flip side of these pokies’ advantages.

In general, it is difficult to implement many additional features when you have only three symbols on a payline. So, if you like your game to be packed with various extra perks and power-ups, then you might find 3 reel pokies to be a little bit too linear.
Despite the fact that wins from pokie slots with 3 reels are substantial, winning combinations are more difficult to hit. What this essentially means is that you’ll get less frequent payouts from these online machines, and it is not guaranteed that you’ll win more than you’ve spent.
The same issue applies to jackpots. It’s easier to line up a jackpot combination, but jackpots are less profitable compared to 5 reel pokies. Obviously, if jackpots on 3 reel pokie machines were huge, then casinos would go broke relatively fast because many players would score big wins.

So, let’s draw a line here and make a conclusion. Undoubtedly, three reel pokies are an absolute classic that each Australian player should try at least once if he or she never did yet. These are the games where you can test your luck in a straightforward manner, without much fuss about additional features, bonus rounds and all that. If you’re okay with less frequent payouts and a linear gameplay, then 3 reel pokies is a right choice for you.

5 Reel Pokies

Pokies with 3 reels offer a more traditional gameplay and a kind of a retro vibe, just like you’re playing a one-armed bandit in Las Vegas, but it’s not enough for many players. Nowadays, people demand a thematic variety and a multitude of special features that diversify the gameplay. While the previous type of pokies is a well-recognized casino classic, online pokies with 5 reels are undoubtedly the most played and widespread version of pokie game in contemporary online casinos. It’s popularity is easily explained by the evident advantages of playing 5 reel pokies online. Let’s discuss what people find so attractive about these pokie games.

First of all, there’s simply much more space in 5 reel pokies compared to their 3 reels predecessors. The addition of just two more columns to the playing field expands the possibilities immensely. You can see it for yourself: 3 reel pokies online rarely offer more than 5 paylines for winning combinations, but 5 reel online pokies can give you as much as 243 paylines. Therefore, chances of hitting a big win is a lot higher in 5 reel pokies.

Also, it’s logical to assume that a bigger playing field allows for the introduction of more special symbols for enabling more pokie bonuses. In old-time pokies, you could find like a couple of them, and they usually didn’t make drastic changes in the gameplay. But pokies with 5 reels offer you a whole range of various bonus symbols. The most popular of them are wild symbols, which act as a joker in cards and substitute for any needed symbol, and scatters, that can rearrange the playing field for enabling additional combinations. Also, there are symbols that trigger the beginning of bonus rounds where you essentially play for in-game free spins without putting your budget to the game and still being able to win a lot. As you can see, there are loads of things to enjoy in 5 reels pokies.

What about the disadvantages? Really, it’s impossible to find any. With the creation of 5 reel pokies, the gambling industry had found that sweet spot between the simplicity and diversity. The core principle didn’t change much: 3 reel and 5 reel pokies are played nearly the same, so you don’t have to learn anything new to play 5 reel pokies online if you have at least a common understanding of how it works. But at the same time, the availability of various bonus features, special symbols, and an insane amount of paylines make 5 reel pokies to be far more captivating than versions of pokies with 3 reels. It is simply impossible to get bored when you play online pokies with 5 reels. Also, don’t forget about the fact that 5 reels pokies usually offer much more variety in terms of style and visual themes as old school 3 reel pokies usually just imitate the experience of classic one-armed bandits. Therefore, you have an understanding of why 5 reel online pokies are the most popular types of gambling entertainment within online casinos in Australia.

Progressive Jackpot Pokies

This is the variation of online pokies that also attracts a lot of attention from Australian players. So, for starters, it is essential to determine what a progressive jackpot is. Naturally, there is a jackpot in almost all online pokies. In fact, jackpots are what made pokies popular back in the days in the first place. The idea of winning tons of real money with just a single spin of the reels is immensely appealing.

In the majority of online pokies, jackpots are fixed, which means that you can’t get more than a certain amount of money from a particular pokie. A jackpot is essentially a large multiplier of your bet. Let’s see how it works: you manage to line up a winning combination of symbols which qualifies you for the jackpot, and then the original bet you’ve made is multiplied by 5000, for example. It seems like a lot (and it really is, compared to regular wins in online pokies), but this amount is still fixed because the maximum possible bet on a particular pokie is also fixed. So, betting a max of 5 dollars will bring you a jackpot of 25,000 dollars (considering the 5000x multiplier, which is as high as they usually get in online pokies).

But what if you want to score several million dollars in just one spin? Progressive jackpot pokies were created especially for that purpose. So, instead of a mixed jackpot amount, progressive pokies accumulate the prize pool from all the bets people make on a particular online pokies machine or a network of several interlinked progressive online pokies. So, each player contributes to the increase of the progressive jackpot, but the more this jackpot accumulates, the harder it is becoming to hit the winning combination. Therefore, a progressive jackpot can accumulate for a really long time to form a jackpot amount more than ten million dollars.

Now you understand why progressive jackpot slots are such a popular attraction among Australian players. The idea of chasing such a grand sum of money is the type of risk and excitement that people look for in online gambling. It is extremely difficult to score the winning combination in progressive jackpot pokies compared to regular online pokies, but if you manage to land it, the amount of money you won would be a real fortune. Therefore, don’t hesitate to play the best progressive jackpot pokies in Australia!

Other Types of Online Pokies

Other variants of online pokies are numerous, but they are either not as nearly popular as 3 reel and 5 reel online pokies or they just represent different styles of designing the pokies layout. Therefore, let’s briefly overview what other types of online pokies are so that you’re familiar with the gambling market in Australia.

Video pokies

Essentially, this is more of a term than a particular variant of pokies. As a matter of fact, you can refer to any online pokies as “video pokies” because all of them involve video graphics, and that’s it. However, this term is also used to describe a more particular type of pokies with video clips inserted in the gameplay. So, instead of static symbols that spin across the reels, you get a whole story that is experienced almost as a movie. By the way, many video pokies are based on movie franchises, which is really logical if you think about it. Other than that, you can see the term “video pokies” pretty much everywhere, either it refers to all online pokies or specifically to those with high-class graphics and animation.

3D pokies

This is one of the latest advancements in the market of online pokies in Australia because these casino games allow you to play your favorite pokie games just like you would play any modern video game. However, here comes that ambiguity that we mentioned before because 3D pokies are basically video pokies. It’s just that video clips and 2D animation are substituted by 3D modeling and animation. All in all, this term is a little bit more precise than video pokies. SO, if you like to enjoy the highest quality of graphics then you should definitely check out 3D pokies because they are really the most advanced form of gambling entertainment, except maybe for live casino games.

Online pokies with more than 5 reels

These pokie games are intended to be a one-trick pony rather than being a full-fledged casino attraction. Remember that we mentioned that the 5 reel pokies are the sweet spot in terms of simple and yet captivating gameplay? This works in both ways: while 3 reel online pokies are kind of repetitive and uninventive when you play them for a long time, online pokies with 7 reels or even more are too cluttered with possible options. It’s just too complicated to keep the track of the gameplay when you have ten reels spinning at once. Additionally, the immense increase in the number of paylines makes these pokies to be a lot less profitable for online casinos because players have considerably more chances to win on these pokies. Therefore, you would rarely find such gambling entertainment in Australian online casinos, but it’s still fun to try them once.

How to make pokies payout?

This is the question that keeps many Australian players occupied. Since online pokies are such a great attraction that is found in every online casino in Australia, many gamblers tend to seek ways to increase their chances of winning in online pokies. What are the best pokie machines to win real money? How to win on pokies? These and many more related questions will be overviewed in this article because it is essential to know your odds and distribute your gambling budget accordingly. So, without further ado, let’s discuss the peculiarities of winning on pokies.

Best paying pokie machines in Australia

The choice of a particular online pokie game that you’re planning to play has a critical impact on the results of your gambling session. First of all, you need to understand clearly that all legal Australian online pokies have an integrated Random Number Generator (RNG). This is a special software that ensures that an outcome of each single spin will be purely random and that there are no specific patterns that you can trace over a long period of time to abuse them. However, clever Australian gamblers can still turn the odds in their favor because it is still possible to predict your chances of winning to some extent. To understand these odds, we will need to observe the concept of volatility.

Volatility (also known as variance) in online pokies is the first factor that you should pay attention to when choosing an online pokie machine to play. Some players tend to think that Return to Player (RTP) rate is the most important factor, but it’s not really true. First of all, RTP shows the theoretical return rate over several million consecutive spins, and secondly, RTP calculation involves all the people who play a particular pokie game. What this essentially means is that if 100 people would play on this same pokie machine for an hour, the overall payout will probably match the declared RTP rate of a pokie. But 95 of those people would lose more than they won, and only 5 people will profit from this gambling session.

How is that possible, you might ask? Because volatility is the most important factor in terms of online pokies gameplay. Volatility or variance represents the ratio between wins and losses within a couple of hours. There are low, mid, and high volatility pokies. In online pokies with low variance, you are likely to get regular wins for a considerably long time, but the amount of each winning will not be huge. On the opposite, high volatility pokies will payout a lot less frequently, but each win will be much more massive compared to low variance pokies.

Therefore, it could be stated with certainty that low volatility online pokies are the best paying pokie machines in Australia. However, you should always choose a pokie game in accordance with your playing style and the results you want to get from your gambling session. Some people like to take risks and their budget allows them to bet higher stakes. For such Australian players, high volatility online pokies will be the most suitable choice. For example, progressive jackpot pokies are the most evident example of pokies with high variance. They give you wins incredibly rare, but the payout is also immensely huge so the largest Aussie pokie wins come from progressive jackpots. However, if you want to relax, have a good time, and gamble with a little profit, then it is the best advice to choose low volatility pokies.

How to win pokies?

So, we figured out that the most essential aspect for turning pokies odds in your favor is the choice of a pokie machine with the right level of volatility. Reputable gambling software developers always indicate the volatility of their slots so you can easily look up the information about it online. But what else can you do to increase your chances of winning on online pokies? We are going to discuss this topic without any clickbait-style promises such as “How to win on pokies: New 50 secrets”. Instead, we will provide you with realistic pokie tips that will actually help you.

How to beat pokies

Remember that we mentioned the factor of RNG earlier? This is the factor of which nobody talks about when discussing the topic of winning on pokies. Let’s repeat it once again: there are no 100% working schemes to beat pokies all the time because legal online pokies are ultimately random. The only thing that matters in the pokies’ volatility. If the volatility is low, you will most likely be able to win on pokies regularly, but payouts will not be as huge as some might like. If you like to win more, you should evaluate your chances and take risks in high volatility pokies. You will be able to beat these pokie machines not so often, but if you manage to place a large bet in the right time, then the payout will be massive. These are the basis of winning on pokies, and now it is high time to discuss the pokies strategies that actually work.

Pokies strategy and helpful tricks

The first strategy that really works might surprise you with its simplicity. If you feel like the particular pokie machine doesn’t payout as much as you expected, then simply change it for another pokie game! This advice, despite it is seemingly obvious, might actually save you a lot of money. Applying this strategy, you’re relying on your luck, but the difference is that you do it more wisely. Instead of simply sitting on one pokie machine waiting for the lucky streak to happen, you can change ten or twenty online pokies quickly to find that lucky streak yourself. Because if you’re in the negative streak on one pokie then it means that somebody is having that positive streak, and it is the best decision to change the pokie machine to become the lucky winner.

The second strategy is a variation of the previous one as it is based on the same principle: if somebody wins, others lose. Therefore, it is advised to try out playing on newest online pokies because not so many people gamble on them at the same time and thus the payout probability is a lot higher compared to the most popular online pokies.

And finally, you can apply pretty much the same betting strategies that are used in roulette. Roulette is also based purely on luck, much like the online pokies. Therefore, it is possible to apply pretty much the same betting techniques from online roulette to online pokies. For example, the Martingale strategy will apply perfectly to mid and high variance online pokies. According to this strategy, you should double your bet after each loss: if you bet 1 dollar and lost it, bet 2 dollars on the next spin. Thus, you will be able to win that money back when you’ll finally hit that win. Other roulette betting strategies will also be helpful when playing online pokies.

Best time to play pokies

Some people believe that there is such a thing as “the best time to play pokies”. Australian gamblers who believe in this theory think that it is more profitable to play at night or early in the morning or on a regular weekday because less people play at this time. To some extent it is right as we’ve discussed before that the more people play the same online pokies, the harder it is to score a win. However, there is really no such thing as the best time for playing pokies because online casinos work 24/7, and what’s more important, people from different countries and time zones might play in the same online casino. So, don’t rely heavily on this assumption even though it is partly true.

How to cheat pokies?

Many gamblers from Australia think that there is a method to cheating Australian pokies or actively look for such a method. However, we can assure you that there is no such method. People who tell you otherwise are more likely to get you into their scam with some “scheme to cheat online casinos, 100% guaranteed”. Online casinos in Australia nowadays are incredibly protected from outside manipulation or attacks. Even the casino operator can’t influence the outcome of online pokies because they are largely protected by encryption and RNG software. It was possible to cheat pokies in the past when they were mechanical devices, but nowadays the software of online pokies is so advanced that it is impossible to cheat them.

Best way to play pokies

So, how can we summarize this ultimate guide to online pokies? It would be the most logical to say that the best way to play pokies is to enjoy the game. If you’re a true Australian player who is passionate about online pokies, then you’re on the right track. You shouldn’t look for ways to cheat or trick online pokies. Instead, it’s better to know the odds of online pokies that you play and set your budget accordingly. Thus, it is a lot more likely that you will walk away from your gambling session as a satisfied player, and quite probably that you will also make a considerable profit from online pokies. We hope that this guide is really helpful for you and you will recommend it to those who are only taking their first steps in the immensely diverse world of online pokies.