Online Pokies in New Zealand – Where and How to Play

Online pokies are a great way to enjoy your free time, and if you do some research you can win some money. The online casino market has become massive, with plenty of choice for both experienced and novice players. Great graphics, entertaining themes and exciting progressive jackpots are the order of the day, so how do you decide where to play and which game to choose?

In the guide that follows we will give you a head start on where to play online pokies in New Zealand, what to look for when choosing an online casino and game, and how to play so you have the best chance of winning. Let’s get started!

Where To Play Online Pokies in New Zealand

So, where can you play online pokies in NZ, and how do you choose the best? The simple answer is that there are so many online casinos that host the most popular and enjoyable pokies that it’s difficult to know where to look! We’ll begin by talking about what the casinos do to get you to sign up with them instead of their competitors.

Every online casino will offer an enticement to join that can come in the form of free spins, for example, or matching your first deposit up to a set limit. The trick is to find the best signing on deal at a casino that offers the most lucrative and popular online pokies. We’ll talk more specifically about some of the top online pokies in a moment, but first we want to list a few of the best online casinos and their signing up deals to give you an idea of what to look for, so here goes:

Betway is among the most popular online casinos in New Zealand. They offer to match your initial deposit up to NZ $1,000. With 560 games to choose from, 342 of which are smartphone compatible, they don’t have the greatest variety but concentrate on the popular pokies that are most played.

LeoVegas is a long-established online casino offering almost 2,000 games, most of which are smartphone compatible. They offer NZ $1,000 and 150 free spins as the bonus for new players. They feature all the top pokies too.

JackpotCity is another casino focusing on the most popular games, with more than 400 available for smartphone use. Sign up with this casino and they will match your first four deposits up to NZ $400 for each one, so a possible total of NZ $1,600 is on offer.

Dream Vegas offers a signing on bonus of 200% up to NZ $2,500 on your initial deposit, meaning they will give you double what you deposit as free credits. This casino has more than 2,000 games – over 1,000 of which are smartphone compatible – and also gives you 50 bonus spins for opening an account.

The above four online casinos are by no means the only contenders but are highlighted to give you an idea of the variety of signing on bonuses that are available. Be aware that there will be a wagering requirement with most bonus packages, so let’s briefly explain what that means.

Understand the Wagering Requirement

The wagering requirement is a safeguard put in place to protect the casino. When they match your initial deposit you will get it as free credit. However, you cannot simply withdraw this and walk away. Instead, you need to play your free credit as required by the wagering requirement or play-through rules.

Say you deposit NZ $100 and the casino matches that. The casino has, for example, a 30x wagering requirement. This means you have to play that bonus 30 times before you can withdraw any winnings attached to it. So in reality, while they give you $100, you have to play $3000 to start winning. This also applies to bonus spins.

This is why you should carefully read through the terms and conditions of each casino you check out, as the lower the wagering requirement the less money you need to spend to get your bonus winnings.

Now that we’ve looked at some of the casinos – and we’ll have more tips on choosing the right one before we finish – let’s talk about some of the top online pokies you can play.

Popular Online Pokies and How to Play

The modern breed of online pokie is a virtual take on those you will find in a club or arcade. However, the digital pokie can be a much more engaging and interesting game to play thanks to the wonders of computer graphics and the clever and innovative minds of developers. If you’re new to the online pokie, let us explain something that’s important when playing most of them: Megaways.

Megaways slots use a software architecture that enables the symbols on the reels to change with every single spin. This means that the number of winning combinations is vastly increased. Not every online pokie is a Megaways slot, but many of them are and they are popular with experienced players as they are exciting to play and open up many more opportunities than a standard online pokie.

Megaways slots offer more special features, opportunities for bonuses and scope for exciting game playing. Games to look for include the very popular ‘White Rabbit’, ‘Bonanza’ which is the title that launched the Megaways revolution and, among others, ‘Extra Chilli.’ Learn how to play these games as best as possible and you stand a good chance of winning.

Among the non-Megaways online pokies is ‘Mega Moolah.’ Developed by the market leading Microgaming company, Mega Moolah hit the headlines in 2015 when it paid out a record jackpot of more than £13,000,000 (equivalent to NZ $25,000,000) in the U.K. Many multi-million dollar jackpots have been won on this game.

Mega Moolah is one of many slots offering a ‘progressive jackpot.’ The available jackpot will rise with every game, eventually paying out to a lucky player – which could be you! There are many more top NZ online casino games – we’ve covered the top 10 in a separate article – so before we go, here are some tips that will help you stand the best chance of winning more than you spend.

Handy Tips for Playing Online Pokies

For newcomers some of the terminology involved in playing online pokies may be confusing, but we’re here to help! The following terms need to be understood if you want to win, so read on:

• RTP is the ‘return to player’ percentage. You will find this figure if you search for reviews of online slots, but what does it mean? An RTP rating will read something such as ’96.7%’. That means that, on average over a large number of spins, for every $100 put into the machine it will pay out $96.70.
• High and Low Volatility are terms you will find in reviews. A high volatility pokie will pay out higher amounts but less frequently, a low volatility game will pay more regularly but lower amounts. The lowest volatility games are known to be ‘Thunderstruck II’ and ‘Starburst,’ the highest include ‘Scroll of Dead’ and Crystal Quest.’

We’ll leave things there so we don’t overload you! If you browse our site, you’ll find more detailed information on playing online pokies plus reviews of the top 10 games you can right now, and much more, so take your time researching and have fun playing the best online pokies.

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