About Pokies

If there is any game that Australian casino players all enjoy playing, it is the game of pokies. Even sworn poker players or die hard roulette fans enjoy playing pokies for pure enjoyment. Perhaps the reason for their huge popularity is the fact that there are so many varied pokies games to choose from, every player is sure to find a game he enjoys.

The Pokies History

In 1895, the first mechanical pokies machine was invented by a young mechanic by the name of Charles Fey in America. The original machine had three spinning wheels with diamond, spade, heart and bell symbols. When three bells in a row would appear, the player would win a payout.

The demand for the original pokies machine was huge and in 1907, a Chicago manufacturer, Herbert Mills began to distribute the machines to arcades and game halls.

It was not long before electric versions of the pokies machine were developed. In 1964 the first electronic machine was introduced. The electronic machine meant that the machines became more secure and operators began to offer even bigger payouts and jackpots.

In 1975 Walt Freely introduced the first of the video machines known as the Fortune Coin. The video pokies meant that the casino was able to introduce better odds and have more control over the payouts that were made. Players were at first sceptical of the video machines as they had grown accustomed to watching the reels spinning before coming to a stop. Over time players became more trusting of the machines and the humble three reel pokies slowly grew to 5, 7, 9 and even more reels.

Today the pokies machine is available in hundreds of different variations with differing reels, paylines, bet sizes and additional bonus games. The pokies of today often come complete with a theme or a storyline based on a TV show, a foreign destination or a famous personality.  

Australian Pokies and the Many Pokies Types

For as long as any Australian people can remember, gambling has been one of the most famous pastimes of the people. The first Australian settlers were predominately from the UK where gambling also has a lengthy history. Betting on horse racing was a popular activity among the first settlers to Australia, as were a variety of different card games.

When the slots machines were introduced in the 1950s these proved to be very popular among the Australians, and they termed them, pokies. The industry continued to expand at a fast rate and by the 1970s live casinos began to open.

Pokies come in many different forms. The three reel pokies most closely resemble the original and classic pokies games invented over a hundred years ago. These pokies are usually straightforward to play with few or no extra bonus games. In recent years, the pokies games have developed and expanded to such an extent that there are now hundreds of varieties available. There are five reel pokies with many paylines, there are video pokies based on popular movies or characters and there are the highly enticing progressive pokies.

The biggest advantage of playing pokies is that there are no complicated rules that the player must first learn or strategy that needs to be studied. Once you have learned to play one type of pokies you will later be able to go on and play all of them.

Important Pokies Terminology

Every Australian online casino offers a wide variety of Pokies machines. Before beginning to play, the player must decide the coin size he will wager, the number of coins he will bet, and how many paylines he will enable.

Number of Reels

The early, classic pokies had only three slots. Today they can have anywhere from three, five, seven or even more. Five slots are probably the most common pokies played today.

Number of Paylines

There can be one or more than one paylines that are crossing the reels. Paylines range from 3 and more commonly 20 paylines. For a winning combination, the designated symbol must fall on the line. On a classic pokies machine there is only one payline that crosses the three reels. The player is allowed to bet one or more coins per spin but only the centre line is the winning payline. When playing online slots with more than one payline, if the player increases the number of coins that he is wagering he can bring more lines into play.

Bonus Slots

A bonus slot will generally offer the player some kind of bonus round where they are often able to win free spins.  Another popular bonus feature is the gamble feature. After a winning spin, the player has a chance to double his winnings by guessing the colour of a random card, or to quadruple his winnings by guessing the suit of a card.

Progressive pokies

progressive pokies have an accumulative jackpot that will increase in size every time the player plays the progressive pokies. These jackpots can exceed a million dollars. Many of the online casinos offer a large variety of progressive pokies for example Mega Moolah and Major Millions.

I-Slot machines

An I slot pokies machine is a new, innovative pokies game that lets the player make choices that will determine how the game is played. An example is the new, recently released game Great Griffin.