What are Pokies?

In Australia, the word "pokies" is slang for slot machines. In the early 1900's the first slot machines, developed in the United States, appeared on Australian shores. While they were illegal they were popular with gamblers.

While there is no documented date of when the term pokie was first used it has become the standard term for video slots in Australia. It appears that the term pokie has come from the fact that there was a time when video poker machines were in pubs and clubs as well as the slots - they were all called poker machines. Although the term, pokie, appears to have only caught on in Australia since the rest of the world still likes to call them slots or slot machines.

Although there were slot machines in Australia as early as the 1900's it was not until 1956 when the government of New South Wales decided to legalize the slot machines exclusively in registered sporting clubs.

An Australian company called Aristocrat in 1953 saw that the slot machine was a growing business and developed their first game known as the Clubman. A few years later, the Clubman was replaced with the Clubmaster.

The government of New South Wales in 1956 legalized gaming machines in registered clubs. This decision changed the face of gambling in Australia and around the world forever. The slot machines were then named pokies. Although pokies were quite basic games compared to today, the pokies were quickly a hit with players.

The jackpots of the pokies were by today's standards small and the interactivity was limited to pulling the handle and waiting for the reels to stop.

In 1986 the first video slots or pokies rolled off the production lines and were released to the public. This was a big boost to gaming since not only did the games have five reels but the pokies also had many more lines and offered additional way to win such as free spin features.

Today no matter where you are, you will most likely see whole banks of video slots at land based casinos. Around the world, pokies (slots in the U.S. or Fruit Machines in Britain) are one of the most, if not the most popular form of gambling.

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