The Unwanted Effect of Pokies Ban on Australian Players
As most of you are probably aware, online gambling is illegal in Australia. This caused an exodus of online gambling operators that offer their services to Australians – as it’s the operators that are held liable in the court of law – and even worse, it caused an exodus of slot game developers from the continent.
As we learn from BestCasinoAustralia.com, Aussies can no longer win the Mega Moolah progressive jackpot that is always in millions, because Microgaming is one of the slot game develoepers that chose not to risk it by accepting Australian players. So, even if some online casino allows an Australian to register, deposit and win, the Microgaming slots in that casino will not be available. Some online casinos may even choose to pull a trick by allowing a player to play Mega Moolah, but not telling him he’s not eligible for the jackpot.
Other key slot game providers such as NetEnt and Playtech are also out, and the long list also includes many vibrant new developers such as Yggdrasil or Pragmatic Play. This is, in fact, what significantly reduced the quality of slots – or pokies as Australians call them – available on the continent.
What’s left?
Almost all major players did leave the market, and what remains are those who have plied their trade in another banned market – USA.
As USA players will already know, Realtime Gaming (RTG) is one of the game developers with a cult following, and their pokies are available to Australian players. So are all the games by Rivalo, a developer of quality games when it comes to gambling mechanics but a bit deficient in overall wow effect.
Finally, Betsoft slots are also available to Australians, and these are probably the best slots Australian players can play. These slots have high theoretical payout – higher than RTG and Rivalo – and also beat both of these developers in the graphics department. Betsoft have really upped their game in recent years, and every month they release one or more stellar titles.
If Betsoft wasn’t present in the market, however, the situation would be grim.
Progressive jackpot slots
As all slot players already know, the best progressive jackpot in the world is Mega Moolah, and it stands alone at the top for many years now. NetEnt, a Swedish developer, is the only company that’s trying to compete with the unqestionable dominance of Microgaming / Mega Moolah in this niche, so they have several highly regarded progressive jackpot slots.
However, none of these are available to Australians. Let’s have a look at the three available developers and see if they have any notable progressive pokies.
Rival has a few jackpot slots such as Major Moolah, One Million Reels BC and Strike Gold, but these have very low jackpots of around $20,000 which can’t really compare with a true jackpot slot. This brand does pay, though, which can’t be said for Betsoft slots that have seemingly abandoned the jackpot feature in older titles without explicitly saying so.
Realtime Gaming has a few exciting progressive jackpot slots, and the best one is Aztec’s Millions. That is indeed a true jackpot slot as it seeds at $1,000,000 and the jackpot usually reaches heights of around $3.5m before someone wins it. This pokie is likely the best choice for Aussies who want to win a progressive jackpot. It’s just important to choose a reliable online casino.
