Many novice gamblers believe that all pokies are essentially the same, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Pokies cover an incredibly wide range of games, which means that you can likely find something you’ll enjoy no matter what your gambling preferences are. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the most common types of pokies!
Three-reel poker machines tend to be simple games that are similar to the pokies you would have found everywhere in a casino or club a few decades earlier, but which now play second fiddle to more complex machines. Since there are fewer places for symbols on the reels, there are also fewer winning combinations and paylines, and the maximum jackpots tend to be smaller.
However, that doesn’t mean these games can’t be fun. Even on just three reels, there can sometimes be ways to activate bonus rounds. Some of the most popular pokies ever created are 3 reel games with exciting bonuses that allow players to win big jackpots.
In modern casinos, including online casino sites, five-reel pokies make up the majority of games available to players. These machines allow for a large number of features to be placed on the reels, providing more varied gameplay and more room for a greater variety of symbols.
The addition of the extra reels also makes it easier to create jackpots that are very hard to win. That may not sound like a good thing, but it allows casinos to build up progressive jackpots that can pay out as much as millions of dollars to winners.
Seven-reel pokies are a rare sight, and tend to be more of a gimmick than a core part of a casino’s offerings. The 7 reel format means that all sorts of wild options are possible, and machines with this many reels can offer some incredible prizes if you are lucky enough to match seven symbols in a row. However, the difficulty in keeping track of all the information on the machine, and the fact that five reels is usually enough to make a game fun and offer large prizes, has kept seven-reel pokies as a very small part of the online casino landscape.
However, the app situation is a bit better for Android users. Google Play has a similar policy as the Apple App Store, restricting the sale of real money gambling apps outside of markets where they are licensed. But the nature of Android makes it a bit easier for companies to get around this. Many online gambling sites offer apps directly for download from their websites, circumventing the official Google policy. These apps are often the easiest ways to play mobile pokies on your Android device.
Video pokies is a term used for poker machines that feature video graphics. Technically, this makes all online pokies “video pokies,” but we’re really talking about those games that feature animations and videos rather than static graphics (as games with just plain symbols are emulating the old mechanical pokies, not newer video machines).
Video pokies are popular because they offer way more interactivity for players to enjoy. Themed poker machines can features characters for popular movie, television or comics franchises, including actual video and sound clips. They also tend to include multiple bonus features, including some that allow the player to interact with the screen to reveal prizes.
3D pokies are some of the most advanced video pokies on the market today. Manufacturers like Betsoft have used 3D graphics to create pokies that have complete storylines and engaging characters that can make playing a poker machine feel a lot like watching a movie. These games have some of the most interesting features of any poker machines, and often sport lots of little details and Easter eggs for players who pay attention to everything happening during the game.
Read MoreLooking for pokies that offer the biggest possible prizes? These high payout pokies feature some of the top prizes anywhere in the online gambling industry. Many of these poker machines utilize progressive jackpots as a way to achieve multimillion dollar prizes, including famous games like Mega Moolah, Mega Fortune, and Spamalot.
“Fruit machines” is the name used in the UK to refer to poker machines, and as such can technically refer to any and all pokies. But the term fruit machine is also sometimes used to refer to a specific type of pokie that uses some unusual special features, such as a nudge that can move symbols into winning positions.
Read MoreFOBTs are similar to pokies, but are designed in a way so that they offer fixed odds on every bet. For instance, on a FOBT, you can play an electronic version of roulette that is essentially identical to the table game. You might also be given the option of betting on a simulated horse race, or even play some something very similar to a traditional poker machine.
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