One of the biggest questions every online pokies player would like to have answered is this one: “Is there life after death?”.
Oh no, wait, this was it: “How do you know when a pokie is going to payout?”. How to know if a pokie is going to payout? How do you know if you are going to win or lose money?
Before answering this pressing question, we need to delve deeper into how a pokie machine works. How does a pokie actually work?
The Payout Percentage of a Pokie
The payout percentage is an essential part of the operation of a pokie . The payout percentage indicates how much the pokie pays out as a percentage of the deposit. An average online pokie machine pays out approximately 95-96% of each euro wagered. In other words, of every dollar you wager, the casino pays out some 4-5%. What is left goes back to the player.
Of course, the higher the payout percentage, the better it is for you, the customer.
Okay. We have established that a pokie machine pays out less than it is wagered. After all, an online casino or a land-based casino has to make money. That is their business model.
So far, it has made a lot of sense. But how does the pokie determine how much it has to pay out and when? Then we come to the possible combinations.
Possible Combinations with a Pokie
To determine how the pokie machine determines when it should payout, we first need to look at how a pokie is set up. A pokie works with unique combinations, and each combination represents a certain payout and linked to it a display of the symbols on the screen.
Imagine: there are almost a million possible combinations that have a payout attached to them. The payouts range from 0 credits to the top prize of 100,000 (example) credits and everything in between.
A Pokie can’t give the Top Prize every Spin
He will often give nothing, regular small prizes, and the occasional big prize. Rare will be the very big prizes, and the chance of winning the grand prize is immensely small.
If all the Payouts are Divided by the Number of Combinations
Each different combination stands for 1 unique display of symbols on the screen. In other words: the combination determines how the symbols appear on the screen and not the other way around! The combination is first, and only then the corresponding symbols are displayed on the screen. This is so fast that you don’t realize it, but this is how the pokies works.
But how is it determined which combination will be won? We have the Random Number Generator for that. An indispensable part of online pokies.
The Random Number Generator (RNG): The Heart of a Pokie.
The RNG determines which combination is pulled. Every combination is unique. The RNG is continuously working on all combinations at immense speed (like a sort of tombola). The moment you press the play button, the RNG stops and picks up a combination from the tombola. This combination is translated into a payout and the symbols on the screen.
Because you are actually the one who stops the RNG, it is completely random. An RNG can, therefore, not influence the fact that you win or lose. It only ensures that it takes a combination at the right moment.
But How do You Know when a Pokie is going to Payout?
The RNG is completely random. Even if you know (and you don’t) which combinations are winning and losing, it is impossible to determine when to press the play button. The gigantic high speed at which the combinations are loaded makes that impossible.
The RNG has no memory. It does not know whether you are winning or losing. It has no idea how much money you have deposited or how much you had transferred to your account yesterday. You therefore never know in advance when and how much a pokie is going to payout. Sorry. Every spin of the pokie is a new and independent one.
But Wait a Minute!
How is it that some days you can’t lose, and other days your zero commas can’t win anything? The RNG is random, isn’t it? Yes, it is. And it’s precisely because it’s random that you will sometimes have above-average winning combinations (which we gamblers translate as “hot”). But other times, it will choose above-average small or losing combinations. This feels like “cold.”
Compare it to the shuffle function of your iPod. It also randomly chooses the next number. However, you may hear one number clearly more often than the other. This is because it is random. Your iPod (just like a pokie) doesn’t take past results into account.
So: enjoy it when you win. But know that every turn is a new one. And if you’re on the losing side: again, every turn is a new, independent one. The fact that you lose does not mean that there is a greater chance that the pokie “really has to give now.”
If you want to maximize your winning chances, you will need to play as many pokies as possible with a high payout percentage. Netent’s online pokies are known for their high payout percentage, which often exceeds 97%. This makes the odds of actually winning a lot higher than pokies in an amusement arcade, where these payout rates are often between 80% and 85%!
Play The Best Pokies Online Now
Would you like to play pokies online, for free or for real money? Choose one of the trusted online casinos from our Top list. We have tested them all ourselves and found them to be very good.