5 Questions to Ask When Picking Online Pokies
There are thousands of online pokies to play at online casinos in Australia. Picking the best ones to play is challenging. Fortunately, we can help you make the right decision on which games to play.
When choosing online pokies to play, there are several questions you should ask yourself. Below are the top 5 questions you should ask yourself when picking online pokies. These questions will help you pick the best games and help you stretch your online casino bankroll.
Who Designed The Pokie?
The first thing you need to ask is which online gambling software company designed the game. Was the game created by a top-tier provider like Microgaming or BetSoft or is the game a generic game developed by a lower-tier provider.
The top online casinos in Australia are usually a conglomeration of pokies from various providers. Most of the providers you already know if you are a regular gambler. Others will be up and coming providers like Belatra Games that are new to you but have stellar reputations. If you can’t figure out who designed the pokie, you probably shouldn’t play it.
What are the Betting Limits?
Something you should pay attention to when playing pokies is how much each spin costs. Most games are going to require you to play 10 or more lines at a time. If the minimum credit is .25 on a 10 line game, you are playing $2.50 a spin. That can drain your bankroll quickly.
Many games allow you to play as low as .01 a credit or they will offer you a fixed rate. This is somewhere between .25 to .50 a spin on the low end. This is important to know so you can plan out how much to spend on each session.
Also, be careful of just playing right away before checking the bets. Some games default to a higher limit. For example, a game that has limits ranging from .25 to $250 a spin may start you off playing $1 to $5 a spin rather than .25. Check out where the game bet defaults to before playing.
What’s the RTP?
One of the most important things you can do before playing online pokies is to determine the Return to Player, or RTP of the game. For online pokies, you want games that are above 95%. Honestly, you probably want to shy away from most games under 96%. Anything under 95% is not worth fooling with.
Online casinos have lower overhead, so they can afford to offer pokies with higher RTPs. The higher the RTP, the lower the variance in the game. On some rare occasions, you’ll find games with as high as a 99% RTP. Anything over 96.5% is usually worth checking out.
What Type of Bonus Games Are Available?
Most online pokies created in the last few years have some form of bonus game available. The most common bonus games are free spins bonuses that award you spins after landing three or more scatters on a reel. Other games will offer additional bonuses such as cascading reels, bonus games, and more.
Games that offer more than one bonus feature tend to be more fun than those that only offer a free spins game. This is usually because at least one of the bonus features triggers fairly frequently, giving players another reason to play.
Another thing to look for is the ability to Buy the bonus game. For some games, you can automatically trigger the bonus or free spins game by paying a fee. This can be as high as 88x your initial bet. Depending on how much it costs, the Buy feature may be a profitable option.
What Are the Payouts in the Base Game?
Something I commonly report on in my pokies reviews is the payouts of the base game. This is important as it will help you figure out some of your variance. If you’re playing a game where you have to land four of a kind or more to turn a profit on a single line win, this game is going to be higher variance.
Some of the better games are those where the Royals are the only low paying symbols. There are a few games out there, such as Hot Fruits Deluxe Quattro, that will do no worse than break even on a winning combination. Those are the games I personally prefer.
Most games are going to require you to hit multiple winning combinations in a spin to turn a profit. Generally, the closer a single line win will get you to break even on the spin, the better the game is variance wise.