How to Pick a Winning Pokies Machine

Updated: August 2, 2023

Online pokies are always best played for entertainment purposes only, but none of us can deny that part of the thrill of playing is knowing that we have a chance of winning something. In this article, we’ll explore a few ways in which you can try to improve those chances by being a bit more selective about the games you play. If you’ve ever wanted to know how to pick a winning pokies machine, read on and we’ll do our very best to tell you.

Look at the RTP

The RTP of a pokie is the percentage of money that a pokie can be expected to return to players over the long term. For example, if a pokie has a published RTP of 96%, it can be expected to pay out NZ$96,000 for every NZ$100,000 that it takes in bets. While RTP figures are calculated over millions of simulated spins and are no guarantee of short-term success, the higher the RTP, the better it is for players. Our first tip is therefore to focus on pokies that have an RTP of 96% or more and to avoid any pokie that offers less.

Check the Volatility

We’ve just said that RTP figures are calculated over the long term and that they don’t necessarily prove to be accurate in the short term. If you want to maximise your chances of winning something in a particular gaming session, you also need to look at the volatility of pokies. The volatility can be described as High, Low or Medium, as follows:

High Volatility means that the pokie will tend to deliver wins less often, and could have long spells without delivering a decent win. However, when the wins do come, they will tend to come in clusters and be of a higher value.

Low Volatility means that the pokie can be expected to deliver wins quite frequently, so you are less likely to experience long dry spells. However, the value of the more regular wins will be lower than those offered by games with high volatility.

Medium Volatility means that the pokie performs somewhere in between High and Low Volatility. Wins will probably be worth more than when playing a low volatility game, but you’ll win more often than when playing a high volatility title.

If you want to maximise your chances of winning in a particular gaming session, you will probably want to focus on low volatility pokies.

Focus on Drops and Wins

Another good tip when you’re playing online pokies for real money in NZ is to focus on games that must drop their jackpots within a certain period of time and are getting close to that time. These can usually be found in a Drops & Wins category at most casinos that offer them, and you’ll find Daily Drops and Weekly Drops. By focusing on Daily Drops games that haven’t yet delivered their jackpots but are sure to pay out in a couple of hours, or on Weekly Drops games that only have a day or two left to drop their jackpots, you just might be lucky enough to land yourself a decent win.

Explore with Free Spins

There are lots of online casinos that will give you free spins on sign up. It can be a very good idea to take advantage of those offers and use your free spins to explore the pokies that are available at the casinos awarding them. You can then decide whether you would prefer to try and maximise your chances of winning by focusing on high RTP pokies, low volatility pokies, Drops & Wins games that have yet to deliver, or a combination of all three.

Now Add a Big Dash of Luck

Choosing a pokie machine based on the ideas presented here should help try to improve your chances of enjoying a win or two. However, improving your chances doesn’t mean you’re sure to succeed by any means. As always in the world of online casino gaming, you’ll need a big dash of luck to enjoy a winning session, even when playing high RTP games with low volatility.

Bear that in mind, make entertainment your primary purpose for playing, and at least you’ll know that you gave yourself every chance of winning.