Best Online Slots for Real Money in Australia 2021

Q: Which software developers make the best slots?

It&#8217;s a better time than ever to be a pokies player. There are dozens of companies around the world making incredibly fun and high-quality slot games. Some of our favourites include <a href="https://www.pokies.com/software/betsoft/">Betsoft</a>, <a href="https://www.pokies.com/software/igt/">IGT</a>, <a href="https://www.pokies.com/software/microgaming/">Microgaming</a>, <a href="https://www.pokies.com/software/netent/">NetEnt</a>, and <a href="https://www.pokies.com/software/realtime-gaming/">RealTime Gaming</a>.

While we know them – and love them – as pokies, online slots are one of the biggest forms of entertainment at a casino. They’re almost always ripper quality, and unlike other casino games, there’s heaps of different themes and mechanics.

That said, variety invites complexity, and looking at online pokies for the first time might be a bit imposing. With so many games available, where do you even get started? How different are the rules? Does the game work on mobile? Does the game have free spins? How do the bonus games work? Find out the answers to all these questions and more in our online slots guide.

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Types of Online Slots

Pokies stand alone from other casino games because of their sense of spectacle. Most table games have a certain refined air. Very rarely will you see someone jumping up and down or getting excited because of a blackjack win. When the lights start going off and the sounds start coming from the machine, though, a win becomes a huge celebration. Online pokies can’t perfectly replicate this feeling, but they can come pretty close.

To win at pokies, you need to know how to play pokies, and that means understanding them. There are three major types of pokies available at both land-based and online casinos.

3-Reel Slots

When online casinos mention “classic slots”, they usually mean three-reel slots. Unlike more modern five-reel slots, three-reel slots are more traditional pokies. They have far fewer paylines than five-reel slots, and they often make use of classic casino icons, like fruit, 7, and BAR symbols. While they are great games in their own right, their focus on simple gameplay means they don’t come with a lot of the bells or whistles of more modern pokies.

If you want a pure pokies experience, you’ll want to play three-reel slots. They might not be as interesting as five-reel or progressive slots, but it’s easy to understand why they’re still popular today.

5-Reel Slots

When you hear the phrase “online pokies”, odds are you’re thinking of five-reel slots. While some are patterned on traditional casino symbols like three-reel pokies, five-reel slots have heaps of different themes or settings, and bonuses or gameplay features to match.

Free spins, re-spins, Wild and Scatter symbols are just a few of the things you might expect to see in a five-reel pokie, and given all of these engaging elements, it should be no surprise that casinos seek to offer as many of them to punters as possible.

Almost all mobile slots are five-reel pokies. Modern online pokies are coded in HTML5, meaning they can be played on desktop or any mobile device. Instead of spending their time porting over existing products, game developers can focus on making exciting new pokies.

Progressive Jackpot Pokies

While these typically take the form of five-reel slots, progressive jackpot pokies offer payouts far and above what other slots are capable of. The majority of online pokies are stand-alone, but progressive jackpot slots are connected to a network of heaps of online casinos. The more that punters play these slots, the higher their jackpots become.

Progressive jackpot pokies can feature as many as four jackpots for punters to try to win. Often, the only way to get a chance at any of the jackpots is by playing with the maximum bet, and even then, there’s a degree of randomness. That said, if the jackpots were easy to win, the games wouldn’t be anywhere near as exciting. There is always a chance to make history, though: the famed progressive slot Mega Moolah won a Guinness World Record in 2015 when a lucky player won its £13.2 million jackpot.

Playing Slots on Mobile

Over the last decade and a half, mobiles have become extremely prevalent. Most everyone has one, and they have become a normal part of daily life. Naturally, online casinos want to bring gaming to people in the most convenient way possible, so playing mobile slots is easier than ever. Because of how pokies are developed, there’s no major difference between playing a pokie on a computer or playing on the go.

Some older pokies run on Flash, so they won’t work on mobile. That said, modern games – even some older titles from developers like Betsoft, NetEnt, and Quickspin – are coded in HTML5, so you should have problems playing them on the device of your choice.

Usually, the only main difference between a mobile slot and its desktop version is a change in layout to better fit the smaller screen. In every other way, they’re the same games you already know and love.

Playing Online Slots for Free

It might be some wishful thinking, but we almost expect that when you go to an online casino, you should be able to play the slots they have for free, without needing to wager real money. Free play slots are a useful opportunity for punters to try out different pokies and find games they enjoy.

In our eyes, there’s no reason that a casino shouldn’t offer unlimited free play on their slots. It’s 2021, after all. That said, some casinos may require punters to sign in before they can access free play, or they may not offer free play at all on mobile devices. That this is on a case-by-case basis can be a bit frustrating, because there’s really no downside to letting players try games for free.

If you like the games of a particular software provider, you can usually find many of their games available for free play on their website. While you can’t play for real money this way, since the games aren’t tied to a casino, this is a safe and secure way to play some slots and have a ripper time.

Bonuses for Online Slots

The best casino bonuses often apply to online slots. Here are the main kinds of bonuses that you can redeem on online slots at your casino of choice.

Free Spins

Free spins are an incredibly common bonus, no matter which casino you’re playing at.

They often come attached to another type of bonus, such as part of a welcome bonus. They can also appear as their own deposit bonus. As the name says, free spins allow you to spin the reels on a pokie without needing to use the balance in your casino account to do so.

While it’s not unheard of for a casino to offer free spins on any of the pokies they have, the majority of bonuses with free spins will have them tied to a specific slot. There are a couple of reasons for this: maybe the casino has an agreement with the developer, or maybe there are a selection of high-quality slots that they want to highlight for new players. No matter the reason, the pokies chosen for these bonuses are usually ripper games in their own right, with Dead or Alive, Cash Bandits 2, and Avalon being popular choices amongst casinos.

No Deposit Bonus

No deposit bonuses are some of the rarest bonuses at any casino. They consist of a small amount of money – typically around $50 – you can claim without having to deposit anything into your casino account. This bonus can be used anywhere in a casino, including on pokies. The tradeoff is that you can only bet or claim so much when you use a no deposit bonus, but every little bit helps.

One more thing we’ll caution about no deposit bonuses, which is really best practice for all casino bonuses, is to check the wagering requirements. These indicate how much you need to wager at the casino before you can withdraw anything you’ve won using a bonus. In the case of no deposit bonuses, it’s not unusual for there to be a wagering requirement of sixty times the amount of the bonus. Make sure you carefully review the Terms and Conditions at your casino of choice, and make note of any pokies that don’t contribute to the wagering requirements of your chosen bonus.

Online Slots FAQ

How do I play online slots?

Online slots are heaps easy to play. Just choose the amount you’d like to bet and press the spin button to activate the reels. Some pokies might also let you choose which paylines to play, or they might be tied into the bet amount. Generally, though, pokies are straightforward and simple.

Are 3-reel or 5-reel slots better?

Whether 3-reel or 5-reel slots are better comes down to what you’re looking for. If you want bonzer bonus features and more well-rounded entertainment, 5-reel pokies are the way to go. If you’re looking for a more focused slots experience, 3-reel slots are for you. That said, while win percentages are similar, there are more winning combinations on 5-reel slots.

How do progressive slots work?

If you go to two different casinos and see the same pokie to play, they’ll usually just be two copies of the same game. They each are controlled by their unique casinos and are tied to those casinos for their earnings and winnings. Progressive slots are different because every copy feeds into the same prize pool, not just at the casino level. When you play a progressive pokie, you have a chance to win a pot that hundreds of game copies are adding to.

Why doesn’t a pokie work on mobile?

Many older games were coded using Adobe Flash, which stopped being supported at the end of 2020. All games coded in HTML5, the current standard, are supported on mobile. We have seen some older titles get updated by their developers to run on mobile, but it’s a case-by-case basis.

Which software developers make the best slots?

It’s a better time than ever to be a pokies player. There are dozens of companies around the world making incredibly fun and high-quality slot games. Some of our favourites include Betsoft, IGT, Microgaming, NetEnt, and RealTime Gaming.

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Real Money Online Slots Australia

Pokies (slots) are a very popular casino game for Australians.