Frequently Asked Questions

A lot of people are wary of playing online pokie games because of uncertainty regarding the security of their money. In fact, with a few basic and common sense precautions taken, online pokies are considerably safer than real casinos. In real casinos, or in pokie rooms in pubs and bars, you have to carry around [...]

Video poker is a computerised game based on five-card draw poker.  It is played on a machine similar to a typical poker machine and usually appears in casinos rather than in pubs or hotels. Video poker games began appearing in the mid 1097s, at around the same as the first basic personal computers. They were [...]

The legal age to play pokies varies according to which country, and often which state, you are in. Generally speaking, it is the same as the legal age to participate in any form of gambling, although some countries do have different legal ages for casino gambling, sports betting, lottery ticket purchase etc. This is generally [...]

Jackpots are what lures players to poker machines – the promise of winning big for a small outlay. The details of jackpots – how big they are, how often they go off and so on, really varies hugely and depends on the particular machine in question. It depends basically on what the payout rate of [...]

In the lead up to the smoking ban, there were all sorts of complaints, mostly from venue owners, that the smoking ban would hit revenues hard and was too onerous for many small venues. Many of these complaints concerned pokies. As you probably know, pokie machines represent a huge percentage of the income for many [...]

The Australian Productivity Commission reported in 1999 that there were 180,000 poker machines in Australia. It also estimated that this number amounted to 21% of all the gambling machines in the world, meaning there are approximately 860,000 machines in the world (or were in 1999). Considering Australia’s relatively small population size, this is quite a [...]

A poker machine hits the jackpot the same way it hits any combination of symbols – winning or otherwise. The Random Number Generator inside the machine which is controlling the spins chooses the number that represents the jackpot. It makes this choice completely randomly. The poker machine does not hit the jackpot because it is [...]

A random number generator is the key element in a pokie machine. The random number generator (RNG) picks random numbers which are linked to the symbols on the reels.  On three reel machines, the reels are usually independent. This means that the RNG selects three different random numbers, one for each reel. Five reel pokie [...]

The first “slot machine” was developed in the United States of America by Charles Fey. It was a very simple game called the Liberty Bell and was an instant hit. The first slot machines, or pokies, arrived in Australia In the early 1900's. They became instantly popular with gamblers, despite their illegality. In 1953 an [...]