It is official, no other country in the world loves gambling like Australia. And Australia’s game of choice? Poker slots; better known in local parts as ‘the Pokies’.
The latest figures show an amazing 80 percent of Australians gamble and over 60 percent of their gambling spend is with ‘the Pokies’. That may be because it is hard to find a casino, pub or club which does not play host Pokie machines.
But this is not a case of TINA Syndrome (‘There Is No Alternative’), Australia’s relationship with Pokies is a long-standing love affair which dates back to 1956 when the State of New South Wales first made them legal. Old habits die hard.
It is now estimated there are 200,000 Pokies in Australia (over half of them in New South Wales) which means almost three percent of the world’s gaming machines are found in the country which has a population of just 24 million.
Australian slots
To quantify that consider, on a per-capita basis, Australia has five times the number of slots than the USA! In short you will need to be unequivocally dedicated to
play pokies or poker online like Australians.
But times are a changing and there is conclusive proof that those people which play pokies online are on a far better bet than the players sat in the bars, clubs and land-based casinos in the land down-under.
That is because people who play online pokies for real money are getting a far better deal than punters playing on their traditional machine counterparts in Australia.
And you can even get a pokies free spins bonus at some online casinos.
Just compare the rates of return online poker, on your Australian themed Pokie website, pays out as opposed to that required by law in the state of Queensland. Legislation in that particular part of Australia states only 85 percent of a poker slot’s turnover needs to be returned to players.
It’s a little better in some other Australian states, albeit a 92 percent return is still as good as it gets! Little wonder more and more Australians are choosing to play their poker online, it is considerably better deal.
888 Poker were quick to take the bull by the proverbial horns seeing a hole in the market which would soon be filled by Pokie mad Australians seeking far better returns to that what they had become accustomed to.
To that end 888 Poker employed the services of Cricketing legend Shane Warne who has been their long-term brand ambassador for all things poker and pokie related.
With his poker interest was boosted by the exploits of his countryman Joe Hachem, who became an Australian sporting legend, plus very rich, when netting $7.5 million and claiming the 2005 World Series of Poker, Warne has subsequently become a regular participant at the fabled World Series of Poker.
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