Australia and New Zealand are known for their wonderful landscapes and architectural wonders. They offer a huge tourist attraction.
And while you’re exploring the deep ocean and getting immersed in the beautiful natural wonders; you might decide to try your luck on an online casino or hit one of the many land-based gambling venues.
So, as you take a spin on the roulette wheel, you might come across a couple of pokies that might draw your attention. But what do pokies mean?
If you’re a native speaker, you must have come across this term often. The same goes for tourists who like to have fun at the casino. However, the word is not as confusing as it sounds; Pokies is simply a word Aussies use to refer to poker machines or slots.
Origins of the Pokies Slot Nickname
So, where did the pokies slot nickname originate from? A quick search through reveals little clues as to the first person called slot machines “pokies.” But according to historians, the word might have originated from the early 1900s when the locals got a view of the first slots. Those slots were poker machines.
With the introduction of these machines, it is possible that the locals found “poker machines” a bit too long and tedious to pronounce and decided to give it a catchy abbreviation, thus naming them “pokies.”
Abbreviation is an Australian Thing
When you look at it in a certain way, pokie is a short form of poker or poker machine. If you’ve been to Australia consistently, you must be familiar with their unending abbreviation for everything they come across.
From words like cuppa (used to refer to a cup of tea) to Arvo (used to refer to afternoon), Aussies won’t want to spend a lot of time saying the entire word. It would be hard for you to get by with so many foreign words, especially if you’re not familiar with the locals. Still, it is a wonderful place to learn new words like pokies.
Slot Machines Around the World
Nowadays, you can barely differentiate a pokie slot machine from a slot. They are the same thing. You will come across many more casino-related slangs if you’re fond of spending your vacations in native English-speaking countries.
For example, locals in UK countries of England, Northern Ireland, and Wales prefer calling slots “fruit machines.” This tag is not unfounded as it dates to when slot machines were composed of rotating wheels that illustrated fruits. If you move to Scotland, you will come across an entirely different word for slot machines. And that is puggy.
On your next trip to Australia or any native English-speaking country, you could learn more gaming slangs or abbreviations to help you fit in with professional gamers in the country. It certainly sounds more fun to say pokie than to go all the way by saying slot machine or poker machine.
Lukas is the head author at Casinoble and responsible for all content strategies and what casinos we review.
Lukas has a background of playing poker in the early years of the poker boom in Europe. He became an expert within the online gambling and has been working as an author for several websites.