Which Are The Best Pokies to Play Online?

Every online casino game developer lays claim to offering the best pokies. Why would they not? Nobody advertises they make poor poker machines! Playing pokies at online casinos gives you a massive portfolio of games to choose from. Furthermore, you can try many for free or play multiple machines at once. But which are the best pokies? It depends, is the answer.

One man’s meat is another’s poison, or so the saying goes. Some players prefer traditional poker machines while others are drawn to those with more bells and whistles. Choosing the best pokies is a matter of opinion. Help make your decision by splitting each machine into core categories. You hit the jackpot if you find a pokie that ticks all of your required boxes.

What Layouts Do The Best Pokies Use?

Most modern machines use a 5×3 layout for their base game. This format is the industry standard and seen as the norm. The very first poker machines only had three reels and one win line across the middle of the screen. It is difficult to imagine playing such primitive machines today.

The layout does not usually alter how the game plays that much, and mostly serves as the game’s visuals. That said, some of the machines considered the best pokies use a 6×4 layout, Monster Pop uses a 5×5, or a weird setup used by those games with the Megaways engine. Megaways games alter the size of their symbols across six reels so there can be anywhere from two to seven rows.

Win or paylines are more important than the layout of the machine’s base game. More of these lines mean you have more chances to win, and who does not want that? Basic games have ten winlines but the best pokies have far more. Megaways games feature up to more than 110,000 ways to win thanks to the unique way they work. It is rare to have long spells without winning spins with more winlines.

What About RTP and Variance For The Best Pokies?

RTP, or Return To Player, and variance are part of the inner workings of a pokie. What people define as the best pokies depends entirely on their preference when it comes to volatility and RTP.

First, RTP is the percentage of your stake the machine returns to you, on average, in the long term. For example, a pokie with a 97% RTP returns $97 for every $100 wagered. This figure is based on billions of spins so the actual RTP varies wildly in the short term.

Variance is another matter entirely. It is a term for how the machine arrives at its RTP figure. Low variance pokies pay out more frequently but those payouts are generally small. Conversely, high variance machines pay out less frequently but make larger payments. The former requires a smaller bankroll with the latter demanding a larger bankroll. Your tolerance for spinning through long losing spells is a major factor in choosing which pokie to play with.

What About TV and Movie Tie-ins?

Some developers claim they have the best pokies because they have an official licence from a movie or a television show. It is possible to play Wheel of Fortune, or The Walking Dead-themed machines at online casinos.

Playing these kinds of pokies is fun because you see your favourite characters and here theme tunes and other familiar sounds. However, these licences cost a lot of money, and the develop and casinos recoup this added cost via the machine. Expect a much lower RTP coupled with a high variance maths model working behind the scenes.

Maximum Payouts

Every online pokie has a maximum possible payout, and this figure massively fluctuates from machine to machine. For example, one pokie may have a 1,250x maximum payout with another boasting of 15,000x. It is obvious which one has the ability to pay you a huge prize.

However, the pokie with the smaller maximum payout may be the better machine for you because hitting that jackpot is ultra-rare. The seemingly worse machine could be up there with the best pokies if pays out plenty of small-to-medium prize.

Try finding a pokie that ticks all the boxes for you. Thankfully, our leading online casino partners have a massive range to choose from, so you will almost certainly find the perfect pokie for you.