Australian Online Pokies for Real Money

Where to Play Online Pokies for Real Money Using No Deposit Free Spins

OzCasinos.org lists the most reliable, trustworthy and profitable online casinos displaying the best no deposit free spins bonuses. If you want to play real money pokies without depositing a single penny, take a look at our recommendations and test new casinos for free using a no deposit bonus and you can even cash out some of your bonus-based winnings. 

Find your favourite casinos, sign up for a new player account for free, choose a username and a password and login so you can start playing using your free spins. While you are less likely to get rich playing free slots games, you will get the chance to make some real profits you will be allowed to partially cash out. 

How to Play Online Pokies

Even though pokies don’t have any complicated rules, there are a few simple guidelines that you must follow in order to make the most of your pokie gaming experience. In land-based casinos, in order to start playing pokies, you only have to place a coin in the slot machine and pull the lever. In the virtual realm, this means you adjust your bet amount (usually at the bottom of the screen) and click the button marked 'spin.'

For more guidance, check out our guide to playing pokies online. 

How to Pick an Online Pokie Game

Selecting the best slots game to play online is not as easy as you might think. Unless you are a seasoned player and you have a couple of favourite titles, you could get easily lost in the sea of choices displayed by thousands of slot-friendly casinos.

To come to your help, there are a few factors you could consider: 

Select games of slots online based on your bankroll

Depending on the size of your initial bankroll, you will need to understand which games are more suitable. A small budget is more compatible with smaller bet pokies as a means of protecting your money. You will get to play for longer and gradually aim for the bigger payouts.

If your budget is larger in size, you can choose a game that asks for higher slots wagers/spin. These games are more suitable for high rollers and they usually generate the maximum returns on their bets. To play a progressive jackpot game of pokies online, you will need to wager the maximum bet amount. 

Choose pokies based on their layout

To keep things simple, select slots with a minimal number of reels and pay lines. Simple symbols and a basic payout structure with a limited number of bonus games is a good start. Microgaming’s Bejewelled and other crush-style pokies are accurate examples here. 

3 or 5 reel pokies that feature more options also boast free spins, multipliers, bonus rounds, wild and scatter symbols for higher payouts.

Think about the type of bonuses you would like to come across and make your choice accordingly. 

Choose a game with a theme you like

Slot machines can be artistically themed to offer a calm and relaxing gaming experience or have advanced graphics to spike your adrenaline. Given the amazing richness of the online pokies available today, you should have no problem choosing a game with a theme you enjoy. Tens of thousands of pokies have been given unique designs and themes. You can find anything from arcade games or romantic themed slots to more of a rob-the-bank kind of theme. The games can be also be based on blockbuster movies you like, popular sports, foods, music, adventure, TV shows and anything else you can think of. The possibilities are endless - imagine the Emoticoins pokie created by Microgaming together with Slingshot Studios. The game is emoji-themed and it features 5 reels and 30 pay lines.

Types of Online Pokies

If you are new to the universe of pokies online, you might feel overwhelmed by the large number of games you can choose from. Here are a few different types of slots that can be played at virtual casinos for Australians, each with its own particularities.

• 3-Reel Pokies
  The games are similar to the traditional slots machines and they boast three reels that rotate and one, three or five pay lines. If you enjoy straightforward action, 3-reel pokies online are what you need. They are medium- to high-volatility games, with important payouts that do not occur very often. 

• 5-Reel Pokies 
  These games are fully equipped with modern game technology and they feature excellent themes and lots of captivating sound and image effects. They can also bring players nice winnings and they come with multiple pay lines, bonus games, free spins and other winning opportunities. They are low-volatility games and they tend to be more entertaining than 3-reel pokies. Good for players who want to keep playing for as long as their budget allows them to, without necessarily aiming to hit a big win. 
• 7 Reel Pokies
  Rare to come across, these games boast all types of wild symbols and huge jackpots. They are more difficult to keep up with given the large number of reels, so you might only come across them in the form of gimmicks.
   
• Progressive Pokies
  The novelty here is the chance to win large amounts of money, with some progressive games reaching millions in jackpots. The jackpots are cumulative and they grow every time someone plays the game at any online venue on the planet. These games require players to wager the maximum bets in order to become eligible for the whopping jackpot.
   
• 3D Pokies 
  The most advanced types of video pokies you can currently play, the games rely on 3D graphics to showcase incredible storylines and characters that turn these games into genuine movies online.
   
• Video Pokies
  All slots that use video graphics such as animations and videos can be called video slots. They are highly interactive and they have popular movies, comics and TV shows as themes. Players can interact with the screen on their phones or computers to reveal the prizes they’ve won.
   
• Free Pokies
  Excellent for checking out demo versions of the games you are interested in, free online pokies are played at no charge, oftentimes without having to create a new player account or to download a casino online. Great for risk-free pokie sessions and beginners. 

Popular Land-Based Casino Pokies vs Online Pokies

We all have our favourite pokies we play in the pub or hotels but wouldn't you like to be able to play an equivalent game online. Here we bring you our personal favourite land-based games and some parallel online pokies we love as well.

Classical Pokie	Online Pokie Replacement	Common Theme	Main Feature of Online Game
Cleopatra (IGT)	Queen of the Pyramids (Playtech)	Ancient Egypt	5x Multiplier
Show me the Money (Aristocrat)	Mister Money (RTG)	Wealth	Free spins
Jaws (Aristocrat)	Wild Shark (Amatic Industries)	Sharks	Free spins
Royal Diamonds (Ainsworth)	Deco Diamonds (Just For The Win)	Diamonds	2 Wild Symbols
Mr Cashman (Aristocrat)	The Glam Life (BetSoft)	Money	Bonus games
Indian Dreaming (Aristocrat)	Rain Dance (Habanero)	Native Americans	5x Multiplier
King of the Nile (Aristocrat)	Ramses Book (Gamomat)	Ancient Egypt	Free Spins with Respin Option

History of Online Slots 

Sittman and Pitt are considered the pioneers of gambling machines thanks to their mechanical poker machine created in 1891. Four years later, Charles Fey invented the very first machine that would feature an automatic mechanism for payouts. More changes came in the following decades when logos and fruits started to replace the regular poker cards. 

Six decades later, the very first electromechanical pokie machine was designed and manufactured. Gradually, players were no longer forced to pull levers to activate the reels to spin. Later on, followed the first video slot on the planet. It was designed to cater to the needs of the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas and it opened the gates to graphical user interfaces that are still in use today. 

As technology evolved, developers started working on cheat-proof solutions and enhanced playability features, adding bonus rounds for players eager for more. 

Once the internet started to make room in people’s lives in the 1990s, casinos started to migrate in the virtual world. Pokies soon followed, and once computers started getting smaller and lighter and smart, hand-held devices were invented, playing pokies online or on mobile devices became a normal activity.  

Slots were also an iconic invention for Australians, where they are called pokies or poker machines and they enjoy a long and precious history. They were originally introduced here in the form of one-armed bandits rewarding winning players with chewing gum. The first local pokie machine was designed by Aristocrat who predicted Aussie’s love for gambling and invested in creating their trademark product, called the Clubman. Today, gamblers can opt for an endless number of machine and virtual pokies with huge jackpots. 

Why Do Australians Love Playing Pokies Online

Gambling is definitely a magnet for millions of people in all parts of the world. However, there is one country, in particular, that seems to have a very special, acquired taste for this form of entertainment. Aussies are the most fervent and frequent players on the planet. Aussies also appear to be the biggest losers in the world, but this does not seem to stop them from pursuing their passion. According to data from a 2016 Gambling Capital worldwide study, casino players from Down Under lost $23.7 billion between 2016-2017. This places them on top of any other world country in terms of gambling losses/player.

Nevertheless, pokie machines continue to be the greatest attraction for Australians, who have been reported pumping in $168 billion via pokie machines and online pokies casinos. This endless love for pokies be explained by looking at some of the benefits of playing real money pokies online for Aussies:

Benefits of Playing Real Money Pokies

• Pokies online are extremely accessible today. The games are available 24 hours a day, all year long, no breaks. With hundreds of online pokies Australia-based venues to join for free, it is practically impossible not to come across your favourite casino and instantly engage in top pokies. 
   
• Australians believe they can get lucky. Over the years, Aussies have developed a mentality that says they can change their luck and get rid of their financial issues overnight, on the spur of the moment, by hitting a life-changing progressive jackpot. 
   
• Pokies require no skill or strategy. The games are incredibly easy to play and they are colourful, cheerful, captivating, themed, engaging and entertaining. 
   
• Pokies are cheap or free to play. Pokies online can either be played in free, practice mode (allowing players to get acquainted with new games) or feature low minimum wagers that won't break the bank.
   
• Offshore operators target players Down Under. By offering spectacular bonuses and free spins to the pokie passionate, these casino operators encourage players to keep trying out fresh releases from home. The enhanced convenience means players do not have to drive or walk to the nearest pokie venue, dress up or find the time to travel for a quick session of pokies.
   
• Players can use mobile pokies apps. For even more freedom of play on the go, most casinos that focus on pokies have designed special pokies apps or optimized mobile browsers that take remote gambling to a whole new level.
   
• There is a plethora of pokies available nonstop. Most casinos provide players with a huge selection of hundreds of pokies.
   
• Players can join online pokie tournaments. Lots of casinos online run fun and potentially profitable tourneys for members to play against each other.

• you can have big wins. While you can choose to play for free, in practice mode or using free spins and no-deposit bonuses, using real money will give you the chance to make a fortune in the blink of an eye. In 2003, a very lucky player won $39.7 million, the largest slot jackpot in history. He placed a $3 bet on a $1 denomination International Game Technology Megabucks machine at the Excalibur casino in Sin City and changed his destiny on the spot. A 25-cent bet brought a Finnish player an incredible jackpot worth $24 million on a Mega Fortune game he played online. A UK soldier won more than $20 million on a Mega Moolah game in 2015. For some more examples, you can read about some of the biggest jackpot Wins.

Choose Real Money Slot Machines With the Highest Payouts

Online casinos do not have any overheads, so players can enjoy higher payout percentages compared to brick-and-mortar casinos. Online pokies feature their payout percentage, with the best games displaying the largest RTP. By becoming familiar with these percentages, you will get to maximize your chances of winning.

Return to Player or RTP defines the percentage of the wagered money that a slot machine will return to gamblers over time. Wagering $100 on a pokies machine with a 96% RTP means players can expect to receive around $96 in wins. RTP is determined over longer periods of time, according to certain factors like the total wins or the total losses in the casino. In the short term, the best strategy is to only wager money you know you can afford to lose. Pokies machines are usually programmed to pay out between 82% and 98% of the wagered money, with the minimum RTP varying according to gambling locations and laws.

A 96% and above RTP is considered an advantageous one. To increase your odds of winning a real money pokies game, make sure you find out the RTP percentage of the casino you want to play at. The higher the RTP, the better it will be for you. You can read our blog where we feature the top five highest-paying online casinos for Australian Players.

Top 10 Best Payouts for Pokies Online

Slot	RTP	Paylines	Volatility
Jackpot Jester (NextGen)	99.90%	5	N/A
Ooh Aah Dracula (Barcrest)	99.00%	10	Medium
1429 Enchanted Seas (Thunderkick)	98.50%	25	Low
Swindle All the Way (RTG)	98.50%	25	N/A
Joker Strike (Quickspin)	98.11%	10	Med-High
777 (RTG)	97.00%	1	Medium
Immortal Romance (RTG)	97.00%	243	Medium
Jackpot Raiders (Yggdrasil)	96.30%	20	Low
Book Of  Dead (Play'n Go)	96.21%	10	High

House Edge Explained

The house edge is the flip of the payout percentage. When a real money online pokies game displays a 30% house edge, the RTP should be around 70%, on average. The casinos will keep 30% of the wagered money on the game and return the rest of it to gamblers, over time. The results of a game of pokies are completely random as they are programmed by computers. Random Number Generators are responsible for the randomness of all slots games you can currently find online. Keep in mind the casino will always have an advantage on real money pokies for Australians, as the odds are preset this way. 

With millions of possible combinations on slots reels and random amounts designed for each winning combo, the odds of a game vary from one title to the next. A 3-reel pokies game featuring 10 symbols/reel has 1,000 potential combinations. A game that features blank spaces between the lines in the forms of stops has 8,000 combinations.  A game with 20 symbols and 20 spaces between the lines can potentially display up to 64,000 combinations. The 3-reel Megabucks game that brought a very lucky player more than $39 million along with the world record jackpot title features 50 million combinations. 5-reel video pokies that have 100 symbols on each of the reels count more than 10 billion possible combinations.

Check and Understand the Pay Tables

Modern-day video pokies games for Australians are more complex than classical or mechanical games found in land venues. They can introduce players to a larger number of pay lines, along with scatters, wilds and other special symbols, together with bonus rounds. Each game has its own rules responsible for establishing the way the respective game will be played. Gamblers must be familiar with this critical information in order to grasp how to play the game in order to make a profit. All the necessary information is found on the paytable. 

Pay tables can be launched by clicking or tapping an icon usually found at the bottom of the screen. The pay chart lists all the winning combos together with the money that the game will pay out when the player lands these combinations. It also defines the scatter and wild symbols, provides information on their functions during the main game, as well as during any bonus games and shows players what are the bonus rounds, along with the minimum/maximum prizes. The paytable of a progressive slots game also lets gamblers know what to do to increase their chances of winning the progressive jackpot. For example, you may be asked to play all paylines so you can be eligible for the jackpot.     

Understand the Volatility of the Pokies Game

The word volatile as applied to a slot machine refers to the amount of risk inherent to a specific game. It is used to describe how often and how much you can expect to win during your playing sessions.

Low volatility slots bring players frequent winnings, but the payouts are smaller. These games can be played with smaller amounts of money, which is advantageous for beginners who are not ready to take high risks.  

High volatility slots are considered higher risk games and they feature a smaller number of big wins over a longer period of time. For example, when playing a high volatility pokie, you may have to wait 20 rounds for a win but the amount you receive will be higher than for a low volatility game with more frequent wins. The risk with this is you may run out of bankroll before you make your win.

Make the Most of Bonus Rounds

Bonus rounds are some excellent highlights of any game of pokies. They are not only extremely entertaining, but they can also bring players big wins. There is a wide selection of bonus rounds available, ranging from spin the wheel bonuses to free spins and pick to win options. The frequency at which most bonus games or rounds are triggered, however, can be problematic for players eager to enjoy them. Nonetheless, some games can provide a few bonus games in short intervals. Choose games that are known to offer free spins and frequent bonus games and rounds for more chances of making a profit. The paytable will let you know how many scatter and bonus symbols you will be required to spin before a bonus game will be triggered. 

Bet Size

If you tend to lose more than you win, you might want to downsize your bet size. It is a mistake, however, to opt for the minimum bet on a game of online real money pokies for Australians, as you will only manage to make small profits in case you do win. Knowing how to choose the right size of your bets means enjoying your favourite games for a longer time. Opting for a maximum bankroll means you will have a greater shot at winning a progressive jackpot. Just remember to only wager the money you can afford to lose. Consider factors like your ability to tolerate a personal risk or to reload; choose your preferred types of pokies and consider using the following formula to get started with: the average number of spins x 100. You should, this way, have sufficient time to play and hit the bonus games and rounds and even win a jackpot while not spending a huge amount of money on your initial gameplay session. Never use all of your bankroll when starting a new session and only use a portion of it. Ten percent should suffice in the case of Aussie real money pokies. 

Real Money Online Pokies FAQ