Tips for Pokies

As self-confessed ‘pokie experts’, the question we always get asked is ‘what tips can you give us for pokies and slots?’ So, rather than answer the barrage of emails that come our way, we figured it would be easier to put it into one simple webpage. And here it is!

It doesn’t take a mastermind to realise that Pokies and Slot Machines make money – that’s what they’re designed for – but it does take someone with a little more up top to realise when a machine might pay out, or when it’s “on a take”.

It’s a big debate amongst pokie players – are pokies random? If you’ve heard stories that they donot go through some kind of ‘payout cycle’ and that the next spin is completely random, then we believe you’re misinformed. Our reasoning is as follows:

1. How often have you seen people in the Gaming Lounge or Pokie Room continually feeding note after note into the bill acceptor? Some people do not learn! Pokies go through stages of taking money – just the same as they go through stages of paying out. That’s what makes them so exciting.
2. Ask yourself another question – how many times have you heard or seen a pokie seemingly providing a flurry of features, many often with re-triggers? It happens! Pokies go into a “payout” mode.

Pokies go through cycles of taking and paying out. Just think for a second – if pokies in pubs are pre-programmed to pay out 87%, and a collection on players have just lost $10,000 between them, thensurely it has to pay out to ‘balance the books’ so to speak? Similarly, if a pokie has just paid out a huge jackpot, say $5000 in one spin, and if it has to retain 13% of all money put into it, then it has to go into some kind of ‘take’ mode?

So, how can we use this to our advantage when playing pokies?

Well, the truthful answer is we can never 100% predict exactly when it’s in paying out mode. That’s obvious. We can’t predict the future, but what we can do is follow some simple pokie rules that help maximise the chances of winning.

Note: These pokie and slot machine tips apply exactly the same to online pokies and slot machines as well. We urge you to follow them when you play online after leaving this website.

• (1) We believe that Pokies DO go though cycles of paying out. Therefore, they have periods of taking money – you can’t have one without the other. Tip one, therefore, is simple: If it’s not paying out, don’t keep shovelling bills into it thinking it’s about to turn. It won’t. Cut your losses and move on to a different machine.
• (2) Change your stake often. This sounds easy, but when you bet for example five credits per line, the pokie machine calculates the return it will provide for that spin based on your stake. Pokie tip two is ‘change your bet amount’ often. Why? By changing the stake regularly, you can get a feel for what it’s likely to do. The pokie or slot machine may want to pay out big. Alternatively, it may only want to pay smaller amounts. Whatever happens, when you change the bet stakes, you’ll start to understand if it’s going to pay big, small or not at all.
• (3) Gamble on 50/50. This is a good one! Most games offer a “double up” feature for any win. For example, if you win $5 on a spin, you can play double or quits, usually on the turn of a card (red or black). This is your only opportunity of a completely random chance of winning. What we mean is that Pokies work on a payout % (eg 87%). The turn of a card on this feature is entirely luck and is completely 50/50. Pokie tip three – gamble on 50/50! It doesn’t take a mathematician to realise if you did this every time the odds would be tilted in your favour slightly.
• (4) BIGGEST TIP! Play Pokies on the Internet! Online Casinos have pokies and slot machines with better odds than those in pubs or casinos. Fact. Think: The Pokies down you local are designed to take money to support the establishment. Online slots have a higher percentage payout because the overheads for an online casino are far, far less! Do yourself a favour and play online! You can do this here.
• (5) Take your pay outs and make them safe! This is important. If you cash out a win of say $200 from $100 worth of spins, put $100 away, in your back pocket and forget about it. This pokie tip is obvious ?

Whilst we can’t guarantee these tips will work, and you obviously play at your own risk, these tips for slot machines should help improve your chances of winning!

Follow these golden rules and we reckon you’ll do ok. What are you waiting for - have a flutter now!