Online Pokies Slots for Australian Players
Online pokies Slots for Australian Players
“Pokies” is simply the slang name given to slot machines in Australia. No where else in the world are slot games known by this name. But in Australia this name has stuck. Even international developers of slot machines and online slot games refer to slots as pokies when dealing with their Australian customers. Even before Charles Fey had manufactured the historically famous Liberty Bell slot machine in 1899
Sittman and Pitt had developed a poker machine in 1891 that used 50 playing card symbols and 5 reels. The Jack and Ten of Spades were removed to make it more difficult to make poker hands. Since then these poker machines have been found in pubs and other public places along side slot machines. In Australia the poker machines came to be known as pokies. Since the slot machines often stood alongside the poker machines they too were called pokies. Thereafter all kinds of slot machines including video slot machines and online slot games were called pokies in Australia. The electromechanical slot machine came to Australia in the early 1900s. At that time though they were illegal
they were quite popular. The first Australian slot machine was manufactured by a company called Aristocrat. Aristocrat saw a bright future for gambling in Australia and invested heavily in the slot machine. The first machine was released in 1953 and was designed by Joe Heywood. This machine was called Clubman. Clubman was a big hit and Aristocrat kept on increasing the output. In 1955 it replaced Clubman with Clubmaster. In 1956 New South Wales legalized the use of gaming machines in registered clubs. This was the most critical turning point for the pokies in Australia. For the next 30 years though the popularity of pokies kept on increasing there was not much change in the design. All the pokies were based on the 3-reel format with one
three or five paylines. They were operated by pulling the arm. The jackpots were small. The only significant change during this period was the introduction of lights in the slot machines. In the mid-1980s the electromechanical slot machines started to be replaced by video slots. These too were referred to as pokies. The video pokies changed the slot games considerably. They had five reels and many paylines. Free spin features and gamble games were introduced. Because of the video graphics the general appearance of the games also became more sophisticated. The video pokies were more popular than their electromechanical predecessors. In the mid-1990s the pokies went online. Like elsewhere in the world
players in Australia were also enthusiastic about online pokies. At one time it seemed that Australia would become the cyber casino capital of the world. Unfortunately
the Australian government had other ideas. The Interactive Gambling Act was introduced in 2000 and was followed up by another act in 2001. These acts prohibited Australian online gambling operators from catering to Australian citizens. As a result when Australian citizens want to wager online on the pokies they have to go to offshore online casinos. At these online casinos Australian players wager on the same slot games as do players from other countries. But the online casinos are sensitive to the fact that Australians refer to slot games as pokies and therefore they too refer to the slot games as pokies when interacting with Australian customers. Articles from Casino Advisor
Online Casino Software Provider Stepping Up
Playtech is one online casino software provider that has taken several steps in the last year to increase its potential in the online gaming industry. Regulation of online gaming appears to be imminent in both Europe and the United States. Playtech has ensured that it is in a position to exploit that situation when it arises. Playtech was founded in 1999 by a group of entrepreneurs. In 2006 it was listed in the AIM market of the London Stock
Exchange. However that year Playtech received its worst setback when the UIGEA was passed in the United States and Playtech had to withdraw from the American online casino market. Since then Playtech has fought its way back with a number of well-timed and the lucrative licensing arrangements and is now producing some of the most innovative online casino games. One of the first agreements was with Paramount Digital Entertainment. This agreement allowed Playtech to develop online slot games based on two of Paramount Pictures most popular film releases. One of these slot games
Gladiator
was released earlier this year. The slot game was path breaking in the sense it featured the images of the actors who played the various roles in the movie. It also featured video clips from the movie. The other major agreement was with Marvel Entertainment Inc. This agreement was for developing online slot games based on superheroes featuring in Marvel movies. Of these
The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man have just been released. Both these online slot games feature exciting bonus rounds and expanding wild symbols. The improvement in online casino games is not restricted to the slot games alone. The recent pack of games released has scratch cards
roulette and fixed odds games that promise to take online casino gaming to a new level. The scratch cards have exciting themes such as romance and football. The quality of graphics has been much enhanced from earlier scratch cards and the payouts are fantastic. Playtech is also introduced the first ever 3-D fixed odds game called Knockout. So good is the animation and the audio that players can actually feel the thrill of being inside the ring. However
the best of the latest games is the 3-D roulette. Players are transported into a 3-D animated Casino. This game is not only visually superior to its competition but also has innovative game features. Playtech’s closest competitors in the online casino software industry are Microgaming and Cryptologic. In terms of number of online games being offered and addition to the portfolio each year Microgaming is far ahead. It crossed the 400 games mark earlier this year. The quality of Microgaming online casino games both in terms of audiovisual appeal and games features is excellent. However Microgaming is staying away from branded games
even though it was the first online casino software provider to introduce such games with Tomb Raider and Hitman. Cryptologic is less innovative but it has an excellent portfolio of branded games. Most of these are based on Marvel Comics superheroes. Playtech has now directly positioned itself against Cryptologic with its Marvel Movies superheroes. Cryptologic has chosen the route of expansion by licensing its games to operators that are functioning on other platforms and has signed a large number of deals using this business model. Playtech was always counted in the top three of online casino software providers
but placed at number three. Very clearly Playtech is intending to change this and is fast narrowing the gap between the leaders and itself and would soon even overtake them. Articles from Casino Advisor
Local Electronic Online Casino Payment Options
Electronic payment options were initially introduced by organizations like Neteller and PayPal that had a global customer base. At that time only a global customer base was large enough to provide the economies of scale required. Online gambling has since then grown by leaps and bounds and today each country or a localized area can provide sufficient numbers to make a local electronic payment option viable. This has seen the growth of several electronic payment options in the different countries in Europe
where people speak different languages. Local electronic payment service providers are able to offer customer support and other services in the local languages and this is a major reason for players preferring them. Germany
the Netherlands
the Scandinavian countries
Poland and Russia are some of the countries
where local electronic payment service providers are regularly used to fund online casino accounts. This article discusses some of the more prominent of these service providers. iDEAL is an electronic banking option popular in the Netherlands. Players who have online banking accounts with ABN AMRO
Fortis
Postbank
Rabobank or SNS Bank can use iDEAL for funding online casinos without having to register at iDEAL or open an account with them. Players can also use e-wallets
telephone banking
bank drafts and cash deposited at their local banks in order to fund their iDEAL accounts. Many online casinos offer alternative payment method bonuses to players using iDEAL deposit option. iDEAL carries out transactions in US dollars
British pounds and euros. Przelewy24 is a recently introduced payment option for online casino players from Poland. Presently funding this online account is possible only through 18 of the main banks in Poland. The account can also be funded through major credit cards and Moneybookers. The online casino accounts are credited within 15 minutes of the instruction to transfer funds. Przelewy24 carries out transactions in US dollars
British pounds and euros. Moneta.ru is a convenient and secure Russian e-wallet. The account can be funded through a bank transfer
but that can take up to 5 days. Therefore Russian payment methods such as Yandex
Webmoney and RBK Money are recommended. The advantage of using Moneta.ru as a deposit option is that it allows online casinos to remit withdrawals. Sofortuberweisung is an online deposit option that allows players to fund online casino accounts directly from bank accounts. It is powered by Fast Bank Transfer and is functional in Germany and Austria. Players need not register in order to make a payment but some online formalities need to be completed. The main disadvantages of this option are that it does not accept withdrawals and transacts only in euros. Moneybookers is one of the largest electronic payment service providers. It has a global reach. Yet Moneybookers has understood the value of local electronic payment service providers. Therefore as a policy Moneybookers has tied up with several local companies in their respective countries. This system gives players the advantages of economies of scale and financial strength of large international companies as well as personalized support in local languages that can be provided only by small local companies. In Germany Moneybookers has tied up with giropay
in Finland and Sweden with Nordea
in Australia with Poli
in Singapore with eNETS and in Denmark with Dankort.Articles from Casino Advisor
Vegas Technology Online Casino Games
Online casino software providers by and large offer similar games at their casinos. However each software provider has a slightly different way of classifying their games and has some unique and special offerings within each classification. Hence it makes sense for online casino players to understand the portfolio of each software provider so that he can make an appropriate choice. This understanding also helps the player in selecting appropriate games after he has narrowed down on a particular online casino software provider. This article discusses the classifications and some of the unique games in the Vegas Technology software. Vegas Technology classifies its online casino games in four main categories. These are Table Games
Slots Games
Video Poker Games and Specialty Games. Table Games are further classified into blackjack
roulette and progressives. In addition there are a number of individual games like craps and many card games. Blackjack has the two most common variants
which are European Rules and Vegas Strip. In addition there is a blackjack game called Perfect Pairs. It has a side bet that pays off at 5 to 1 if the first two cards dealt to the player are of the same rank. If the cards happen to be of the same color as well the pay off is 10 to 1 and if the cards are of identical suits apart from being of the same rank t
hen the pay off is 30 to 1. Vegas Technology software offers American and European roulette
but French roulette is not available. The other Table Games are the usual ones found in the other casino software as well
except for Mulligan Poker. In Mulligan Poker the player is dealt a five card hand after he places the ante bet. He can choose to keep the hand or he can take Mulligan. In the second option a raise bet is automatically placed and all five cards are replaced. The players hand is compared with the dealers. If the player has replaced his hand then the dealer is also given an opportunity to replace his hand if so required. The win or loss is decided by comparing the two hands and the payout is decided based on a payout table. The Video Poker Games has nothing unusual to offer. Seven of the common variants of video poker are offered in the single-hand format and the 2-4 hand format. Deuces Wild is offered in the Mega Multi-Hand format as well
which plays ten hands at a time. The Slots Games are also standard fare. There are three reel and five reel slot games
with and without bonus rounds in separate categories. There is a category called Traditional Slots which has three reel slots but with themes other than the conventional fruit machine symbols. There are two points of departure in the slot games category in the Vegas Technology software. Vegas Technology offers to slot games with seven reels. These are Farming Futures and Lucky 7s. No other online gaming software provider offers seven reel slot games. The second unusual aspect is that all the progressive jackpot online slots in the Vegas Technology software are of three reels. The Specialty Games category offers keno and some other unusual games. Poker Slots has cards dealt in a 5 x 5 matrix and calculates paylines vertically
horizontally and diagonally. Payouts are made when poker hands appear in enabled paylines. Poker Dice is played by rolling five dice with playing card symbols from nine to ace on the faces. Poker hands starting from two pairs payout according to a pay table. The other two games in this category Bingo Bucks and Dazzling Dice. More details about Vegas Technology Software: Software Review Vegas Technology online casinos Vegas Technology online casino games Articles from Casino Advisor
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