2022-05-16 5780 7 min read
How to Choose the Best Online Pokies Sites
Pokies have gained their popularity through simplicity and amazing winning chances. Australian gamblers appreciate the opportunity to combine the simple gameplay and high Return-to-Player rates of this gambling activity. As a result, more software developers dedicate themselves to pokies games, and more online casinos try to diversify their game assortment with various slot machines.
Another important thing is that modern online casinos usually encourage gamblers to play pokies by giving free spins inside their welcome bonus packages. This opportunity attracts even more gamblers to pokies than at any time before.
Such a variety has its downsides as well. It turns out challenging to choose the right gambling house, software provider, and a specific game. Although the quality of a pokie game depends on its developer, the overall gambling experience can profit or suffer from different aspects of service that an online casino provides. Such aspects relate to terms and conditions, deposits and withdrawals, customer support, etc.
Fortunately, there is a way to determine a good online casino from a bad one. And I am ready to share my 7 years of experience as a dealer and a gambler with you within my step-by-step guide.
If you do not want to spend time and effort on evaluating online casinos, then I recommend using my list of the best pokies online casinos:
For those who want to learn my casino evaluation strategy in detail, I am glad to present my step-by-step guide for choosing the best pokies experience.
Step 1. Opt for a pokies website with the highest RTP rates
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Pokies can bring a lot of fun and excitement. However, gamblers usually come to online casinos not only for fun but also for winnings. Although there is no casino with a 100% winning chance, you can still raise your chances to win or even hit the jackpot if you know the peculiarities of the games you play.
Return-to-Player rates show the per cent of your initial investment that you can get back in the long run. However, you need to understand the theoretical basis of these numbers and their potential to vary depending on different factors like betting limits, in-game bonuses, and overall policy of a casino that might change within time.
Slottica is one of those casinos where you can find licensed pokies with real 99,9% RTP rates. I can recommend this casino as one that has high payouts, but there are still no guarantees for particular winnings.
Step 2. Analyse the welcome bonus and choose the best one by wagering requirement
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Pokies have numerous ways to engage both newbies and professional players. There are sweet welcome packages for the first group and unique promotions, loyalty programs and tournaments for the second party.
However, a newbie player should be cautious about welcome bonuses because some of them have their negative peculiarities. For example, welcome bonus spins could be limited in time. It is always worth reading Terms & Conditions before opting for a particular online casino.
Another critical feature of each welcome bonus free spins is a wagering requirement. Basically, the wagering requirement shows how much time do you need to play pokies before you can cash out your winnings.
I usually recommend choosing online casinos with 35x wagering requirement or less. If you see a delightful welcome bonus with 50x wagering requirements or even more, then it is better to consider other options. It is highly possible that you would not like to play more than 50 times on a specific pokies machine before you could withdraw your winning.
I can give you an excellent example of a worthy welcome bonus with Casoo online casino. It has a great welcome bonus package of 3000 AUD and 200 free spins with only 25x wagering requirement.
Step 3. Pay attention to software developers of pokies websites
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Since pokies are incredibly popular, there should be a proper proposal from game developers. Fortunately, this industry regulates itself pretty good, and software developers have already acknowledged the need to create more qualitative products in the niche.
As a gambler, you need to pay attention to the reputation of a software provider. There are pokies games developers who have already earned the respect and trust of gamblers. Here are some examples of such trustworthy game developers:
✅ Microgaming. The developer is a real leader in the gambling industry with more than 1000 games in its portfolio (nearly 600 from which are pokies). The most popular pokies from this software developer are Mega Moolah, Terminator, Playboy, Game of Thrones, Jurassic Park, Immortal Romance, The Dark Knight, etc.
✅ Aristocrat. Although this software developer has no such stunning number of created games, it still provides its fans with stable quality and excellent graphics of its products. More importantly, the developer has gained trust as a safe and fair game provider.
✅ Playtech. The pokies from Playtech are represented not only as separated games but also as dedicated casino platforms. This provider really cares about the quality of its products and will never let its fans down.
✅ Play’n GO. The company comes from Sweden and has started as a remaker of the games from other popular developers. However, it has already gained a reputation as a developer of innovative and original games. For now, it provides more than 60 countries with 300 slots. Gamblers know such titles like Book of Dead, Moon Princess, Lady of Fortune, Tower Quest.
There are no winning guarantees within any pokies of the listed providers because the RTP rates also depend on a particular online casino. At least these games will provide you with juicy graphics and involving gameplay.
I recommend trying King Billy online casino if you want to get a really wide choice of pokies from various software developers. You will find hundreds of pokies from Microgaming, Aristocrat, Playtech and other honourable developers here.
Step 4. Check the security level of a pokies website
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Unfortunately, there is no state regulation for online casinos in Australia. It also means that there is no opportunity for an online casino to get an Australian license. However, there are trustworthy international licenses like Curacao license which Australian gamblers can rely on.
Cleopatra online casino is one of those gambling houses that holds a valid Curacao license and eCOGRA game testing certificate. You can be sure about your safe and seamless gambling experience in this online casino.
Step 5. Test the work of customer support of a pokies website
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Last but definitely not least, customer support comes into play. Gamblers usually underestimate the importance of this online casino service. Most of us think that there is no need for customer support if a casino works well. However, it is not true. From time to time, we need to get professional assistance, even if everything goes well.
There are some features of customer support which you can evaluate without an advance analysis. For example, customer support of a reliable online casino should have:
- Live chat to solve urgent issues of gamblers;
- 24/7 availability;
- Variety of contact methods (email, chat, hotline, etc.);
- Real workers instead of chatbots;
- Fast reaction to your messages.
7Bit Casino is one of the perfect options for those who appreciate the quality of a customer support service. You will always find friendly and helpful gambling support here.
New Pokies Sites — Advantages and Pitfalls
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Surely, the main reason why gamblers opt for new pokies websites is their generous welcome bonuses. However, there are even more advantages of new pokies online casinos to keep in mind.
New pokies sites usually deliver the latest games for their visitors and exclude outdated gambling activities from their assortment. Moreover, new pokies websites are generally more mobile-oriented and provide better user experience for mobile gamblers. You will probably not find any outdated designs or graphics within a new pokies website too.
Obviously, new pokies websites are not perfect. They have their pitfalls as well. For instance, new gambling services can experience difficulties with customer support since their stuff does not have enough expertise yet. The variety of games and the size of jackpots can also be relatively low compared to older casino brands.
Every gambler decides personally, whether it is worth playing in a new online casino. I can only recommend the list of the new casinos that are checked by me for their reliability and security.
Best Pokies Sites Bonuses
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The tough competition among modern online casinos makes welcome bonuses even sweeter for gamblers. Here are the main options you can commonly get as a new player within a pokies site:
- free spins;
- free cash;
- match up bonus to your deposit.
These types of bonuses can also be combined in different variations, depending on a casino's welcome bonus policy. I have collected the most popular types of welcome bonuses and tried to describe them briefly.
New pokies sites no deposit bonuses
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Every gambler would like to get something for free. No deposit bonuses from new pokies sites are just for those who would like to get some sweet presents from a casino to get started. These bonuses are usually not significant and provide you with a limited amount of free spins or even cash. The main advantage is that you do not need to spend your funds to test an online casino or a specific game in it.
However, you need to understand that nothing comes for free. The Terms & Conditions of a casino with no deposit bonus usually determine the necessity to deposit your funds before you can cash out any winnings with free spins or cash.
5 AUD no deposit pokies sites
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Some online casinos try to involve new players by actually giving them free cash to gamble. The main advantage of free cash over free spins is that you can choose where to wager your welcome bonus.
10 AUD no deposit pokies sites
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10 AUD for free is a very generous bonus, and not any online casino is ready to give it away. However, such promotions happen for real, and you can profit from them. Generous welcome bonuses represent an amazing opportunity to try different games within a casino for free.
Casinos with 100% bonus pokies sites
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Actually, this bonus gives you an exciting opportunity to double your first deposit instantaneously. Such welcome bonuses often come with a set of free spins as well. It is essential to keep in mind the minimum deposit value to get the bonus.
Casinos with 200% bonus pokies sites
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The 200% welcome bonus for your first deposit means that you get your initial funds tripled. For example, you will get 150 AUD in your account as soon as you deposit 50 AUD. Mind the Terms & Conditions of a casino to avoid unpleasant surprises by withdrawals.
100 free spins sites offer
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Free spins bonus is the best option for pokies fans. These bonuses can come as a part of a welcome package as well. If you want to try a certain pokies machine, do not forget to read the Terms & Conditions of a casino to be sure that you will be able to wager your bonus spins exactly in the way you would like it.
200 free spins sites offer
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200 free spins are obviously better than 100! However, more free spins usually mean more wagering requirements. You need to pay attention to all Terms & Conditions before you decide to invest your time in a particular gambling house.
Pokies Sites — Conclusion
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Pokies have earned their popularity for a good reason. This gambling activity is pretty simple yet involving and profitable. Did you know that slot machines have the highest RTP rates among all online casino games? That is true.
Another advantage of pokies is their variety of styles. You can find nearly any type of design and graphics among the products of trustworthy software developers.
The only thing you need to beware is getting fooled by fraud casinos. Unfortunately, there still are gambling houses that want to get fast profits by using pirated software with low to none RTP rates. I have gathered such cheating gambling houses into my blacklist. Feel free to check any new online casino with it before depositing any money.
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