Fun Facts that You Didn’t Know about Pokies

Slot machines, which are also widely known as pokies here, are a point of discussion for many people since this niche accounts for the biggest percentage of gambling revenue in Australia.

Some people are happy to talk about their experiences with pokies machines, while others don’t want to hear about them altogether. That’s reasonable, as pokies will either result in a win or a loss, with the latter being less likely to lead to a positive discourse about these games.

Still, the reality is that slots have been around for over a century, with many hard facts surrounding them and also some interesting points of information that we will share below. Visit this link to enter the world of pokies or dive into a wealth of knowledge surrounding slot machines.

10 Fun Facts About Slots

1. Many progressive jackpots come with 1:10,000,000 winning odds. That’s interesting alone, but to realize how unlikely it is to win, consider that dying from a lightning strike is about 10x more likely to happen.
2. A land-based slots game at Excalibur Casino, Megabucks, has paid close to US$40 million jackpot, setting up the record till this date. Online, the biggest jackpot so far has been awarded through the Mega Moolah Absolutely Mad slot, giving over €19.4 million to a lucky player.
3. Although the Liberty Bell, the original slot machine, was created in 1890s, pokies first arrived in Australia after 1910. Still, when you consider the state of the world and technology at that time, the expansion of the slot games did not really take too long to reach this part of the world.
4. South Wales has the largest amount of slot machines after Las Vegas, with one per 77 people. Most people would have never guessed the above, as Macau and Nevada are considered to be the two gambling hubs.
5. Fruit symbols were not accidentally introduced to slot machines. The first such pokies machine had fruit symbols that corresponded to the gum taste that the winners would win.
6. Pokies first became legal in Australia in 1956. This was 5 years prior to the first casino being opened in the UK and 18 years before the first Atlantic City casino to open. Still, despite the legalization of slot machines, the first OZ casino was opened in 1973, in Tasmania.
7. Did you know that, today, you could play slot machines that are inspired from pretty much all major movies and TV Shows? Slots developers closely compete to acquire the rights to produce their own version of a popular TV show or a celebrity. Such slot machines include Ellen, Game of Thrones, Batman, Superman, Guns n Roses and so on.
8. Although most people think that the win was close, judging from the symbol that appears just a slot away from the winning combination, the reality is very different. Each symbol that appears in the moving reels could have 100s or even 1000s of other symbols that were in-between but were not displayed on the screen. This is the result of a patent created in the 1980s, which allowed for moresymbols to be apparent, which also enabled casinos to introduce much higher winning prizes due to the lowered possibilities of the outcome to come true.
9. Increased taxation has led to the mainstreamization of slot machines! Especially in the US, the rise in taxes that took place during the George Bush and Regan era forced many shop owners to introduce slot machines in their bars, in order to increase their revenue.
10. Close to $10 billion were wagered on slots in Australia alone during 2013 – 2014. Although this might seem much, it is expected when you consider that Aussies spend 3x the amount that UK gamblers spend per capita, at $1,300 pp.

10 Hard Facts About Pokies Machines

1. There are no cheats or tricks to win at slot machines today. Although there were times in the 1980s and 1990s, whereby some players used tactics, like the string and the coat hanger, to cheat land-based slots into paying. Nonetheless, all of them were caught.
2. Slot machines operate on an RNG, aka random number generator. This means that all spins are completely random, as long as you only play casino games at legal casinos.
3. Players can know what the outcome of their gambling experience will be, by looking at the Return to Player Rate (RTP) of the game. Although this value is calculated over million spins, it is the best predictor apparent.
4. The number of reels, paylines and theme play no role in what payouts a game offers. You could be wagering on a 10×10 reel slot machine with all ways pay, carrying a winning potential of up to 5,000x your bet, while a three reeler slot machine could pay up to 50,000x.
5. There are over 100 casino games software providers apparent today, producing between 1 – 10 games each monthly. This means that you could play a different slot machine every day and never run out of options.
6. Did you know that Blackjack has the lowest house edge amongst casino games? Some variants come with less than 1% edge in favour of the house.
7. Many slot machines are advertised as 99% return to player, like Mega Joker from NetEnt. However, one thing that often goes unmentioned is that these games have a varying RTP, depending on the bet level or the game mode.
8. Volatility is the most important aspect of a slot game, although most ‘experts’ highlight the RTP of slots. That’s because this value indicates the size and frequency of the wins, which affects the gaming experience from spin one.
9. Did you know that there are more rogue sites than legal casinos apparent on the web? This is why you should read reviews, on sites like Pokies Bet, and know the factors that highlight each.
10. Were you aware that many jackpot pokies payout smaller amounts than non-jackpot games? This is a marketing trick employed by software developers, where they add fixed jackpots that pay around 2,000x the bet, with normal video slots often paying out up to 20,000x the stake of the players through their bonus rounds.