All countries have their own slang, but some push it to such a great extent that foreigners, even those speaking the language, are often bewildered and literally unable to understand the subject of a conversation. This happens in some regions of England and Ireland, in India and China, where the territories are so vast that people from some states literally cannot understand cohorts from the another. Of course, Aussies are known for their passion for shortening every word that they can, and the term “slots” has suffered the same fate.
Pokies are just slot machines, mate! Well, for those who aren’t familiar with the lingo, there is no difference between a regular slot machine and a pokie – they’re literally the same thing. The name itself is likely just a shortened version of “poker machine.” Although a true origin of the word “pokies” is unknown, we believe this explanation is accurate. You may say that there is a significant difference between what we now call Video Poker and a regular slot, and you’re right. Even more, back in the day when the name “pokies” started gaining popularity, slots weren’t like they are today.
Slot machines of the early XX Century were crude, three-reel metal beasts, and the only difference between them was the amount of payouts and the symbols themselves. No wilds, no scatters, no multipliers, no bonus games, no free spins, and absolutely no animation. In comparison to playing these ancient monsters, developing a sophisticated strategy for a video poker game was a great thing to do. Eventually, poker machines became so popular that “playing pokies” started to mean any kind of one-armed-bandit-involving activity. Even the Internet casinos offer good Australian online pokies, instead of online slots.
As slots started to become more exquisite and complicated, they prevailed over poker machines, and by 1990, when the Australian government allowed owners to put pokies into pubs and clubs, regular slots already were the new black – but the old name remained.
You’d better not try this trick anywhere else, because in all other countries people prefer such words as “slots” or “one-armed bandits,” except for England, where they use the oldish term “fruit machines,” and Scotland, where slots are known as “puggys.”
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