Understanding How Classic Online Pokies Function

Added: October 30, 2015

Australian online casinos offer 3-reel pokies, which are also known as classic pokies, in their portfolio. These are far less in number than the 5-reel video pokies and there are rarely any additions to this genre. But they have a faithful clientele from Australian online casino players. Try them and you may end up liking them.

The distinctive feature of classic pokies is that they have three reels. There are 1, 3 or 5 paylines. The single payline classic pokies usually display one row of symbols and the payline runs horizontally through them. The 3 paylines pokies have three rows with the lines running horizontally through each. The 5 payline pokies have in addition two lines running diagonally. In video pokies you will find that the winning combinations pay out the same across all paylines. In classic pokies, often the payouts for the top combination depend on which payline the symbols fall on.

The number of coins that you can wager also works differently in classic pokies. For single payline pokies you can wager up to three coins. The pokie machine shows separate payout tables for each option. The payouts for two coins are usually double those for one coin across all combinations. The payouts for three coins are usually triple those for one coin across all combinations, except the top one. This will pay more than three times.

For 3 payline pokies there is common payout table that gives the payout per coin wagered for all combinations except the top one. If you wager with one coin, only the first payline is active for the top payout. If you wager with two coins, only the first and second paylines are active for the top payouts, with the second line paying more than the first one. If you wager with three coins, the third payline also becomes active and pays more than the first two. The 5 payline video slots also function in a similar manner. Florida Fandango (1 payline), Fairy Ring (3 paylines) and Cool Buck (5 paylines) are classic pokies at Microgaming online casinos that will illustrate the above concepts.

Classic pokies mainly use symbols from the old electromechanical pokies in pubs and land casinos. These include the fruit symbols, bell, 7, star and single bar, double bar and triple bar. Usually the top paying symbol is based on the theme. You must get three like symbols in a payline to receive the payout. There can be exceptions. The bar symbols often pay in mixed combinations and in some classic pokies a designated symbol may pay in ones or twos as well.