Five Casino Games That Are Beloved In Australia

There are plenty of clichés about Australia. Some are on the fanciful side and owe more to Paul Hogan’s portrayal of Mick “Crocodile” Dundee than any real Australians. But one cliché that is based in mathematical truth is that Australians love to gamble. In fact, the average Australian adult has a net gambling loss of about $1,000 per year – almost double the second placed Republic of Ireland, where they lose about $600 per year.

Part of that is connected with another well-known characteristic – the Australian love of sport extends to betting on it as well as participating. But Australians also enjoy playing casino games, both at physical casinos and, increasingly over recent years, online. You can click here to find out more about the online casinos available to Australian players. But what casino games are most popular Down Under? Let’s find out.

Pokies

To the rest of the world, that’s video slots, but Australians call them pokies and they are almost literally part of the furniture Down Under. You’ll find pokies in pubs, cafés and truck stops as well as at casinos. And of course, the best possible choice is to be found online.

Most Australia casinos are served by the big name global game developers, so wherever you are from you will probably recognise most of the popular titles. Classics including Starburst and Rainbow Riches are as popular as ever despite having been around for 10 years, while this year, movie-based pokies like Armageddon, Jurassic Park and Aliens ranked right at the top of the ratings.

Video poker

This is where the terminology gets a little complicated. Pokies were originally so named because the earliest slot games essentially dealt out a poker hand instead of having other symbols like fruits and so on. Video poker followed in the 1970s, and immediately caught on, as the game of poker was already very popular.

Part of video poker’s appeal is you can play it any time without having to assemble a group of buddies to join in.

Blackjack

The most popular casino game worldwide ranks third in Australia. Its popularity has increased during the mobile casino era, and with the number of Australians gambling online going up by 67 percent since 2020, online blackjack participation has risen at a corresponding rate.

Blackjack satisfies the Australian competitive spirit, as it is against another person – even if it is only the dealer!

Roulette 

This game represents the fun and social side of casino gaming. Sure, it doesn’t have the skill aspects of card games, but it also doesn’t demand too much concentration and you don’t need any experience at all to be just as successful as a casino regular.

Unsurprisingly, roulette is another game that is highly popular with Australian casino novices.

Baccarat

Slipping into the Australian casino top five for the first time, baccarat was always James Bond’s casino game of choice. Today, more Australians than ever are channelling their inner George Lazenby to give it a try.

Baccarat is not as complicated as it looks, and essentially comes down to a 50/50 bet on whether Player or Banker will be dealt the winning hand.