Pokies, or Slot machines to the rest of the world, have been a popular source of entertainment in Australia for many years. They’re an essential part of online and offline casinos all around the world, and seem set to continue to be so.
Over the years, many different types and designs of these games have emerged and today there is length available for every player, no matter what their level of skill is and no matter what mood they happen to be in. To learn and appreciate a little more about these machines, read on below.
The Beginnings of the Pokies Machine
The original Slot machine was a simple game called the Liberty Bell, which was created in North America by Charles Fey. This was an instant hit in the early 20th century bars of San Francisco and Brooklyn, and in the illegal but popular gambling spots of Australia.
In 1953 Aristocrat, an Australian company, saw the entertainment potential of these machines and developed their first game. This was the Clubman, later replaced with the Clubmaster. The machines were legalized in New South Wales in 1954 and were introduced to Las Vegas soon afterwards, in the early 1960s.
They were originally intended to be side entertainments to keep the wives and girlfriends of the men at the serious game tables happy, but were soon a central attraction in their own right.
At this point, Slot machines were still very similar to the original Liberty Bell game design. They consisted of 3 reels decorated with bright, simple symbols. Players were required to insert coins and then spin the reels of https://gamblingonline.net.nz/games/pokies/ games, in the hope that the images would come to rest in pre-set combinations known as paylines. They originally offered small items such as sweets and cigarettes as prizes, before going on to offer multiples of whatever players originally staked or inserted into the machines as we see today.
The reels were often decorated with playing card symbols, as they still are. This led to them being nicknamed Poker machines, and referring to them as Cardies or Pokies seems likely to have stemmed from that. The name Pokies really caught on in Australia, and this is what the games are generally called in this country today. Whatever they were known as, the games of spinning reels remained wildly popular wherever they were played.
Later Pokies Developments
In the mid 1980s, the next big evolution in the games came with the development of Video Slot machines. More reels and paylines were now possible, as were animations and more detailed graphics, and more special and interactive features.
The 1990s saw the games become more widespread, with their presence in pubs approved by several Australian states, and with the phenomenon of the Internet coming into full force. Now many more players had access to the games, with many more options at their fingertips than ever before. Software recreated every type of Slot machine with immersive action, and is still continuously improving, which is why you’ll always find new developments on games found at reputable providers like River Belle casino and others.
Today, mobile and wearable technologies have integrated these games into daily life even more. Now you can play whenever and wherever works best for you, while keeping up with everything else, which is ideal for busy modern players.
However you enjoy Pokies machines, the same basic rules apply. Stick to your spinning budget, and start by betting smaller amounts. When you’re satisfied with a game’s performance and payouts, bet as much as you can on it. Putting most of your money into a machine with a proven track record has been shown to be the most effective strategy time after time.
