5 Apr

Aristocrat Pokies iPad: Review

Aristocrat Pokies are not only common in Australia, but they are incredibly popular as well. Outside of Australia, however, those two words probably make no sense at all.

A “Pokie” is simply the Australian term for what the rest of the world refers to as a slot machine. These can also be called fruit machines, one-armed-bandits and more, but generally the term “slot” or “slot machine” is universal. That sounds simple enough, right? Well, what isn’t as simple is the fact that the word “pokie” comes from “Poker Machine”, but that’s not to say that the word only refers to those types of slot machines. In fact, although the word owes its origins to poker machines, it is now more commonly used to refer to standard slot machines, the ones that have become incredibly common in modern online casinos.

Aristocrat, on the other hand, is the company that makes some of the most popular pokies in Australia. It is common for these machines to be placed in pubs, restaurants and other such venues (except in Western Australia, where such a practice has been outlawed) and Aristocrat are responsible for selling these machines to those venues.

The complications don’t end there, because although Australians can play these machines everywhere from pubs to casinos, and although there are many online versions available, Australians can not play Aristocrat Pokies online. Odd, I know, but gambling laws are never cut and dry and Australian gambling laws are as strange as they come. Anyone trying to access these pokies from Australia will likely be blocked.

Aristocrat have been making games for the Aussie market for over 60 years, and they are responsible for many of the advancements in pokie technology. They don’t just operate in Australia either, and their games have been installed and played all over the world. Some of the games offered by Aristocrat include Tiki Torch, Queen of the Nile Legends, Panda Paradise Quick Fire, The White Wizard, Sparkling Royal Jackpot Streak, Sun and Moon, More Chili, Miss Kitty, 50 Lions and many more. If you play pokies regularly, whether online or offline, then there’s a good chance that you’ve played one of Aristocrat’s games at one point, whether knowingly or not. It should also be noted that whilst Australians can’t play Aristocrat games, New Zealanders (who typically face stricter gambling laws) can. As we said, online gambling laws very rarely make any sense.

If you reside in Australia and you want to play these games online then there are choices available to you. You can’t play Aristocrat pokies, but you can play ones that are very similar, without breaking the law. Royal Vegas Casino is one of the best destinations for such action. They understand pokies better than most and they also cater for the Australian market, with thousands of members from Down Under on their books, and more joining all of the time. In fact, they even have their own Aussie exclusive website, using the .au domain and containing everything that their main site contains. This means that Australians can also make use of the $1,200 deposit bonus that Royal Vegas Casino offers (paid out over two deposits) and they can also download the Royal Vegas app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

Royal Vegas Casino uses the Microgaming online casino, which is used for many top online casinos around the world and claims to have created the first ever online casino, way back when. Microgaming is great as far as pokies are concerned, and although it doesn’t have the best options when it comes to table games, it’s the pokies that we’re interested in. As far as alternatives to Aristocrat pokies go, their Avalon series has a very Aristocrat feel and as well as the first Avalon game, there is also a sequel, Avalon 2, both of which are on the Royal Vegas Casino main site and its iPad app.

If you’re into superheroes then you’ll probably want to check out The Dark Knight Rises game, along with Hellboy and a few others, all of which are based on their respective comic books, as opposed to the recent film franchises. Fans of Game of Thrones will also want to check out the Game of Thrones slot, whilst those seeking something a little more flavor should check out Terminator 2. All of these games have bonus rounds and wild reels, offering extra chances to win big. There are also games with progressive jackpots that can be won at random with a single spin. The biggest of these is Mega Moolah, with a jackpot that typically exceeds $5 million, but there are others that have jackpots in advance of $100k. These include Major Millions, Cyberstud Poker and King Cashalot.

The gambling laws may have screwed Aussies out of their favorite pokies brand, but thanks to international casino brands like Royal Vegas, there are still ways they can get their fix.