Real Money Slots

Real Money Pokies

How is it possible for Australian residents to engage in playing their favourite pokies for real money when it’s pretty much considered to be an illegal activity in the country? Well, where there’s a will, there’s always a way.

Playing pokies online isn’t like playing them in a land-based establishment in Australia. In terms of the latter, the regulation of gambling is generally under the jurisdiction of each of the Australian states and territories. Therefore, New South Wales may regulate things differently to say Queensland. However, it’s quite the different scenario when you turn your attention to the online gambling world.

The entire Australian Commonwealth handles the legal status of online gambling, with the most important law surrounding this being the Interactive Gambling Act. This was passed by the country’s government in 2001 and has remained active ever since then. Under the laws of this Act, real-money online interactive gambling is not something that Australian players can participate in. This law also extends to the advertisement of such activities, too. The law also determines that interactive gambling services encompass online poker, casino games including pokies and sports betting while an event is in-play.

Due to this Act, many Australia-based gambling companies have taken the decision to not provide residents with gambling services. This doesn’t stop them from providing an online service to players from outside of Australia’s borders, but that’s not really of any help to avid pokie fans within the country. While it’s also understood to be illegal for Australians to access offshore platforms for their gambling needs, this is not something that they are punished for engaging in. It’s merely a technicality of the Act though, because there isn’t anything that specifically states that it is illegal for Australians to partake in online gambling, be that freeplay or real-money options. Instead, the laws in Australia are really aimed at operators choosing to provide their services to residents, rather than the people who choose to play at such sites.

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How to Locate the Best Platforms for Pokies


Naturally, if you’re intending to participate in online pokie gameplay for real money, you’ll need to know where to go to do so. Multiple foreign-based casinos provide the possibility for Australian citizens to sign up, deposit money and play pokies. Yet, it’s important for you to know which ones are legitimate and which ones aren’t. Otherwise, you could end up depositing money into a casino and never being able to withdraw from such.

Fortunately, there are a couple of things that you can do to ensure that you’re accessing a legal and licensed platform. The clue is right there – licensed. Make sure that you look for a casino that provides a licensed site. You’ll usually be able to find details of any licence held by the platform at the very bottom of the website. Be sure that the casino has a legitimate licence in place to ensure that you’re participating in fair gaming and that you’re using a secure gambling site.

You can also read reviews of online casinos before signing up to them. Doing so will not only inform you on the developers that provide their pokies to the casino in question, but also provide you with additional information about the platform itself. From user experiences through to the type of customer support, banking methods and more. This is all relevant information for you to possess so as to choose a casino that works for you. Then, you can simply sign up and visit the game lobby to browse through the pokies and, once you’ve made a deposit, place some real-money bets on them.

In some cases, if a casino is offering the possibility for Australian citizens to sign up to their site, then it’s also possible to be able to deposit and play in Australian dollars, too. Yet, even if this isn’t possible, any deposit that you do make will be converted into an alternative currency – usually American dollars.

Is It Possible for Australians to Participate in Mobile Pokie Gambling?

The laws in Australia surrounding online gambling are considered to also extend to the mobile gaming world. This means that technically, it is illegal for such activities to take place via a smartphone or a tablet. Of course, this directly relates to any services for gambling that are set up within Australia. It’s not possible for the laws within Australia to have any effect on offshore platforms.

That being the case, if you do join an offshore casino and play the pokies at such through your desktop computer, you may also have the opportunity to enjoy mobile gambling on the same games. The best way of finding out about this is by trying to load your chosen casino up on a smartphone or a tablet. If your device loads the casino up and you can login, then the likelihood is that you’ll be able to continue playing your favourite pokies while on the move.

Many real-money pokies have been created in HTML5 format, meaning that they’re easily adaptable between desktop and mobile devices, providing mobile gamers with the opportunity to play from any location.

Providers of Real-Money Pokies and the Best Games to Play

There are several developers that provide their games to online casinos which cater to the Australian market. While each of these brings something different to the table, there are invariably some that are better at this than others. It’s also true that these developers bring some of the most entertaining and high-quality games to the table as well. So, if you’re looking to find out more about which pokies are the best ones to play for real-money, we’ve got the details that you need here.

  • Netent. This developer is somewhat of a worldwide phenomenon, providing a huge range of pokies to some of the very best online casinos. It’s been in action since the late 90s and is known for incorporating wonderful graphics and exciting themes into its games. Not only that, but Netent is ahead of its time when it comes to the inclusion of innovative special features in its pokies. One thing that you can always guarantee when playing a real-money pokie from Netent, is an entertaining time.

    Best pokies to play from the Netent brand: Starburst, Gonzo’s Quest, Asgardian Stones, Blood Suckers, Dead or Alive, Dazzle Me.

  • Microgaming. Always running at top speed alongside the Netent brand, is Microgaming. This company is one of the forerunners when it comes to the online gambling world, having been marked as the developer of multiple huge pokie hits. The company specialises in various areas, but pokies remain a firm favourite of Microgaming fans. With the ability to merge strong graphics and enticing animations together, this developer is one that you won’t want to miss out on.

    Best pokies to play from the Microgaming brand: Agent Jane Blonde Returns, Jurassic World, Jungle Jim: El Dorado, Lost Vegas, Piggy Fortunes, Terminator 2, Thunderstruck II.

  • Playtech. Ask anyone about pokie developers and there’s a likelihood that Playtech will come rolling out of their mouth. It’s so synonymous with the gaming world that it’s difficult to ignore it. Playtech utilises a mass of different themes to build its slot games around, and they always have a certain level of sophistication to them, regardless of whether they include slightly simpler graphics or the very best. Intriguing inbuilt features of the pokies from Playtech ensure that you’re always having a fun time while spinning the reels.

    Best pokies to play from the Playtech brand: Age of the Gods, Top Gun, The X Files, Pink Panther, Marilyn Monroe, Fei Cui Gong Zhu, Cops n’ Bandits, X-Men.

  • Aristocrat. This is one developer which has its home in the city of Sydney, Australia. It may come as quite the surprise to find it on this list, considering online gambling is an illegal activity in the country. However, even though it does provide gaming machines to the country’s land-based casinos, it also creates online software to distribute to platforms in other countries. These platforms do also welcome Australian gamers, ensuring that a little piece of their homeland stays with them when accessing pokies.

    Best pokies to play from the Aristocrat brand: 50 Dragons, Queen of the Nile II, Red Baron, Sun & Moon, Lucky 88, Big Red, Dolphin Treasure, 2Can, Game of Thrones 2

Pokies with Jackpots

We all enjoy playing pokies, but it’s also the case that these will sometimes feature jackpots for players to win, too. These can be either a standard jackpot or progressive jackpots, with the latter increasing slightly every time someone places a bet on the game.

Winning the jackpots in these games depends upon the pokie that you’re accessing, because they’ll all come with different methods of triggering a jackpot win. It’s often the case that the jackpot win comes entirely at random, although in these instances, it’s usually a case of the higher your wager, the more chance you stand of triggering it. Other pokies will require you to spin certain symbols into view or progress through a jackpot bonus round in one way or another.

Whatever the case may be, Australian players are able to participate in various jackpot pokies from different developers. Some of the most entertaining and highest-quality jackpot games include options like Mega Fortune and Cosmic Fortune from Netent, Mega Moolah and Major Millions from Microgaming, Age of the Gods and DC Super Heroes pokies from Playtech, and Greedy Goblins and Mr Vegas from Betsoft.

Keep in mind that, as with all pokies, there’s no guarantee that you’ll win big. Progressive jackpots in pokies do provide a bit more of an attraction for players, although they’re not specifically going to give you anything more than what a standard pokie will. The opportunity is there for it, of course, and several people around the world have been lucky enough to trigger a jackpot win from such games. It’s important to remember that playing pokies should be a fun pastime though, rather than a desperate attempt at trying to win huge sums of money.

RTP Numbers to Watch Out for in Pokies

Online pokies, as with land-based titles, will all have a theoretical return to player (RTP) rate, although it’s true that some developers are more forthcoming with sharing this information than others are. The RTP is displayed as a percentage, often in the form of something like 96.7%, just as an example. This marks the estimated amount of money that you can expect to receive back in winnings from the pokie that you’re playing. Many players tend to seek out the pokies with the highest RTP percentages, as theoretically, they give the idea that they are able to provide more back to you in winnings.

It’s relevant to also remember that the RTP figure is calculated over hundreds and thousands of spins of a pokie’s reels. They’re very long-term figures based on gameplay, and the vast majority of gamers don’t spend such a huge time period spinning the reels of pokies. For one, it’s not financially possible for most casino gamers, and secondly, most people don’t have the time to spend spinning the reels of a pokie hundreds of thousands of times over in a day.

So, while it’s probably quite a good idea to take notice of the RTP percentage that is connected to a pokie, don’t expect it to definitively pay out more than a slot that has a lower RTP rate. In general though, anything that offers a rate above 96% can be considered a great option to go for, and plenty of pokies that are available today feature such a figure. Therefore, you can access titles from different developers and still get to potentially benefit from a higher RTP rate.

All in all, it comes down to the management of your bankroll more than anything else. Yes, take on board the fact that pokie A might have a better percentage RTP than pokie B, but ultimately, control the bets that you’re making on your chosen game. Real-money gaming should be entertaining and fun, but when that stops, it’s better to walk away and possibly come back another day.

Doug is a passionate Slot fan and an expert in the gaming industry and has written extensively about online slot games and various other related information pertaining to online slots. In his spare time, he enjoys time with friends and family, reading, travelling, and of course, playing the slots.

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