Pub Pokies: Australian Pokie Machines Online

Pub pokies are the pokie machines in the gaming rooms of Australian hotels, clubs and RSLs: Lightning Link, Dragon Link, Queen of the Nile, Where’s the Gold and the other classics many players first met at their local. Each review has a free demo, the paytable, the features and the return figures where published.

What Makes a Pokie a Pub Pokie

A pub pokie is a gaming machine built for Australian hotels and clubs rather than for a website. The best-known titles were designed in Sydney for local venues and only later ported online, which is why they share a familiar feel: five reels, 20 to 50 lines or Reel Power ways, free games that can retrigger and, on many of them, a red or black gamble on wins.

The tradition goes back a long way. Aristocrat was building its Clubmaster machines in Sydney in the late 1950s for leagues clubs across New South Wales, and the state is still the centre of the market. Western Australia is the exception, with a long-standing policy of no pokies in pubs and clubs.

The Most Popular Pub Pokie Machines

These are the titles that come up most when Australians talk about the machines at their local, and each one has a review on this page:

• Lightning Link (2015): the Aristocrat series that introduced Hold & Spin, with a Grand jackpot linked across a bank of machines.
• Dragon Link: the follow-up that reached Australian venues around 2016 to 2017; in 2022 Aristocrat called it the best performing game in most venues.
• Queen of the Nile (1997): 20 lines, Cleopatra doubling wins and 15 free games with every win tripled.
• Indian Dreaming (1998): a Reel Power game, where you buy reels instead of lines, with Tepee wilds that multiply free-game wins.
• Choy Sun Doa (2002): the 243-ways game that made Reel Power a fixture of the gaming room.
• 50 Lions (2002): Aristocrat’s first 50-line pokie and the template for many that followed.
• Miss Kitty (2006): the sticky-wild cat game, approved for ACT venues in September 2006.
• Where’s the Gold, 5 Dragons, Buffalo, Pompeii and Big Ben: Aristocrat staples in the ACT’s approved MK6 catalogue.

Who Makes Australian Pokie Machines

Five manufacturers account for every game in the grid above:

• Aristocrat: the Sydney company behind most of the classics, from Queen of the Nile to Dragon Link.
• Ainsworth: the Sydney-based, ASX-listed maker of Mustang Money, Panda King, Winning Wolf, Dragon Lines and Kanga Cash, majority-owned by Austria’s Novomatic but still separately listed.
• Konami Australia: China Shores, approved in the ACT in 2010, and the Bull Rush series that reached clubs and pubs in 2020.
• IGT (Australia): Golden Goddess, approved for ACT venues in 2014, and Elephant King.
• Light & Wonder: Monopoly Grand Hotel from its Sydney studio, approved in the ACT in May 2017, and the Huff N’ Puff series.

How Much Pub Pokies Pay Back

In New South Wales and Queensland, pub and club machines must return between 85% and 92% of all money bet over their lifetime, which in Queensland is usually three to four years. That is a long-run average across millions of spins, not what any one session pays, and every spin is random and independent of the last. Each venue chooses a setting within the rules, and the figure for a particular machine is not published.

Online versions work differently. The developer publishes one RTP for the game, and our reviews quote it wherever it exists, so you can compare the online figure with the venue range.

Pub Machine or Online Version: What Changes

The online ports keep the reels, symbols and features, but a few things change between the gaming room and the browser:

• Bets: venue machines let you choose lines and credits, such as 1, 12, 25, 38 or 50 lines on 50 Lions and Pelican Pete, often in 1, 2 or 5 cent denominations. Online versions often fix the lines and let you scale the stake instead, as Pompeii does with all 243 ways for 25 credits.
• Jackpots: the Grand on Lightning Link and Dragon Link venue games is shared by a whole bank of machines, which a single online copy cannot reproduce.
• Return: venues choose a setting within the state range, while the online game has one published RTP.
• Gamble: the red or black card gamble found on many Aristocrat classics is not offered in every online build.
• Timing: most ports came years later, such as Miss Kitty in 2011, Tiki Torch in 2012 and Big Ben in 2015.

Pub Pokies FAQ

Can you play pub pokies online?

Yes, many of them. Most of the classics in the grid have online versions, and every review on this page has a free demo you can play without signing up.

Which pokie machines pay the most?

There is no public ranking for venue machines, because each venue sets its own return within the 85% to 92% range used in New South Wales and Queensland. Online versions publish an RTP, and you will find it in each review.

What are the most popular pokies in Australian pubs?

Dragon Link stands out: in 2022 Aristocrat called it the best performing game in most Australian and New Zealand venues. Lightning Link, Queen of the Nile, Indian Dreaming, Where’s the Gold and 5 Dragons are the long-standing favourites.

Are there pokies in Western Australian pubs?

No. Western Australia has kept a no pokies policy for pubs and clubs, unlike the rest of Australia.