Best Online Pokies in Australia: Survey Asks Australians to Score 17 Popular Casino Websites

SYDNEY, June 19, 2021 (Newswire.com) - The market research firm AgileHatch has conducted a survey for online casinos in Australia, scoring sites against six benchmarks designed to measure casinos' game variety, fairness, bonuses, customer support, licensing, and customer satisfaction.

To collect the data, 358 Australian gamblers were surveyed using SurveyMonkey market research software.  

Participants were asked to rate 17 different online casinos on six benchmarks. If the participant had not played a given casino in the past six months, their score was not counted for that casino.

After totaling up the scores, QueenSpins ranked the highest with an average rating of 4.8 / 5 and 9% of all Australian gamblers reporting to have played it within the last six months. Runner up RedDog scored 4.5 / 5 with 26% of respondents having played it.

The most popular site was JoeFortune with 43% of all gamblers having played it in the last six months, but a score of only 4.3 out of 5.

How popular online casinos in Australia scored:

• QueenSpins - 4.8 / 5
• RedDog - 4.6 / 5
• JoeFortunePokies - 4.3 / 5
• NicPokies - 4.1 / 5
• Ignition - 3.9 / 5
• AussiePlay - 3.7 / 5
• Playamo - 3.5 / 5
• Woocasino 3.2 / 5
• Bet365 3 / 5
• Betway 2.9 / 5

Scoring Process for Australia Casino Sites

To learn which pokies sites are held in high regard by Australians, we came up with six benchmarks: 

• Game variety 
• Fairness
• Bonuses
• Customer support 
• Licensing 
• Customer satisfaction 

Game Variety 

We understand that game variety is important to most (if not all) casino goers. It was our aim to find out which online casinos offered not just the widest selection of games but also the highest quality games, as well as variants (such as Blackjack variants) and tournaments.

Fairness

Of fundamental importance to us is how fair a casino site is. 

As such, we used the survey to gauge how Australian players feel about the fairness and transparency of each site, and this extends to its reliability when it comes to payouts, as well as how it responds to customer concerns - such as, for example, any time a customer feels they lost a game due to a technical glitch. 

Bonuses

We wanted to find out which Australian casinos score highly when it comes to bonuses. This goes for the size of the bonuses, how well loyal players are treated, as well as the wagering requirements. 

Customer Support 

Fully believing that good customer support is key to a solid online casino experience, we used customer support as a benchmark when creating our questions. Casinos that scored highly were typically those with an array of customer support options, including 24/7 live chat, as well as helpful and friendly agents available on telephone. 

Licensing 

Licensing is a massive indicator as to how reputable a casino site is. It all guarantees fairness, trust and security. Therefore, we added this benchmark to help us establish how credible an Australian pokies site is. 

Customer Satisfaction 

Lastly, we created questions that helped us understand how satisfied overall Australian players are with each site. Customer satisfaction for us pertains to how likely the player is to return to the casino site, whether or not they'd recommend it to a friend, and how often the use the site. 

Survey Questions Asked

1. "On a scale of 1 to 5, how happy are you with the choice of games offered at this casino?"
2. "On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate the overall quality of the games on offer?" 
3. "On a scale of 1 to 5, do you feel any concerns you raised via customer support were listened to?" 
4. "On a scale of 1 to 5, do you feel customer support has always treated you fairly and answered your queries promptly?"
5. "On a scale of 1 to 5, how much does the customer support need to improve?"
6. "On a scale of 1 to 5, how excited were you excited by the bonuses on offer?" 
7. "On a scale of 1 to 5, how do you feel loyal players are treated at this casino site?" 
8. "On a scale of 1 to 5, how much does the casino sites license establish its credibility?"
9. "On a scale of 1 to 5, how often do you play at this casino?"
10. "On a scale of 1 to 5, how likely are you to recommend this online casino to a friend?"

These questions were designed to draw out specific information/data from our respondents that would allow me to not only rate each pokies site out of five, but to also analyze the results based on objective data so that I could create an overall view of the site in question. 

This then makes it easier to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each site, and what type of players they're best suited for. 

Breakdown and Analysis of the Five Highest Scoring Sites

1. QueenSpins

QueenSpins came top of our league table, scoring highly on a number of fronts. Our respondents especially satisfied with its license, with 86% suggesting that its license makes it one of the most trustworthy online casinos in Australia at the moment.

QueenSpins also performed well when it came to games variety, with 81% of respondents saying they are very happy with the games selection on offer. 

Bonuses - which at QueenSpins include free games and a generous welcome offer - are also well received by the majority of our respondents which allows us to conclude that this is a well-rounded and complete casino site. 

2. Red Dog 

Red Dog Casino scored 4.6/5 overall, coming second in our league of Australian online casinos. It scored notably highly on customer support, with over 75% of our respondents expressing that they're happy with the way customer support is at the moment.

Moreover, a further 86% of respondents said they feel that, whenever they raised an issue of disputed the outcome of a game with an agent, they were actively listened to, and the outcome of said claim left them feeling satisfied.

Results were more mixed when it came to Red Dog's bonuses, but overall the respondents reported that they're satisfied with this casino. 

3 JoeFortune

JoeFortune came next in our league table, scoring a respectable 4.3/5. Crucially, JoeFortune - like most other casinos in our report - scored well when it came to game variety and the quality of games on offer. Indeed, 88% of respondents rated the quality of games on offer at 4 or higher. 

One of the reason this casino slipped down to third overall, however, is that well over half of respondents were less than excited by the bonuses on offer, with 43% saying that they can take or leave the bonuses. After taking a look at the site ourselves, we think this is more to do with the frequency of the offers, rather than their size. 

On the flip side, respondents are happy with JoeFortune's license and have few concerns when it comes to customer support and fairness. 

4. CasinoNic

CasinoNic scored 4.1/5, putting it fourth on our list. Respondents were pleased with the way they were treated by customer support, with 67% saying that the customer support doesn't need to improve at all.

A bit of a mark against the site - especially for Australian's who enjoy good game variety - was the fact that only 17% of respondents said they were extremely happy with game variety. 

However, 65% rated the quality of the games on offer very highly, while - crucially - most were happy with the overall experience offered by CasinoNic. 

5. PlayAmo

PlayAmo came a little bit further down our league table, scoring 3.5/5. It's a 100% instant play game, but 60% of respondents suggested they felt game variety was too slim, while 45% had strong concerns over game quality, despite the fact that PlayAmo's games are provided by leading software developers.

On the other hand, customer support was highly praised by 72% of respondents, with the site's 24/7 live chat a likely reason for this. 

Respondents also feel that PlayAmo is fair and are happy with the license, but bonuses by and large got the thumbs down. 

State of the Online Pokies Industry in 2021

Revenue of land based pokies

Gambling in Australia is thriving at the moment, with some estimates suggesting that it's now more popular than in Las Vegas. 

That said, there are still just 14 land-based casinos in Australia at the time of writing, with total combined revenue from the pokies averaging around $12,500,000,000 per year.

Considering that total gambling revenue in Australia is pegged at around $25,000,000,000 per year, this means that revenue derived from pokies makes up over half the total amount. This is hardly surprising in a country where pokies have been super popular for years.  

Moreover, it's also worth pointing out that the Australian government typically nets $6,000,000,000 in revenue from gambling each year. This means gambling makes up over 7% of state and territory taxation each year at least.

Revenue of Online Casinos

The popularity of pokies has now extended to online casinos, mainly due to their convenience and smooth gameplay, but also because online casinos offer more favorable RTPs. 

However, uncovering the revenue of online casinos is harder than land-based casinos because the businesses aren't obligated to disclose their earnings. What we do know is that the global gambling industry made $51,000,000,000 in revenue in 2018, and we can expect Australia's online casinos to have contributed a significant portion of that.

Revenue of Online Casinos in Australia vs. New Zealand

Online gambling in New Zealand is steadily growing in popularity, with 2018 recording record revenues of $381,000,000. This figure is still light years away from Australia, a nation that is home to more online gamblers than anywhere else in the world.

Indeed, Australians spend on average $916 each year per person at online casinos, and they also record more gambling losses than any other country. Therefore, while exact figures for online revenue are hard to come across, we expect them to be much higher than NZ's. 

What Happens to the Revenue Generated by Casinos?

Casinos in Australia generate a lot of revenue. The good news is that a large portion of it goes towards funding local sports and the wider community.

What Percent of The World Gambling Industry Is in Australia?

Australia is home to more gamblers than anywhere else in the world. Per capita, Australian's gamble around $915 per individual. Singapore is second, with America third. 

Interestingly, Australia comes second when it comes to gambling revenue based on visitors ($736), with Macau leading the way ($1354). 

How many Australians gamble?

It's estimated that 80% of the Australian's gamble in some form, be it offline or online. 92.8% are male, while 7.2% are female. 

Remember gambling can be addictive and should not be used as a solution to your financial troubles. All casinos are 18+; check your local laws to make sure online casinos are legal in your area before playing online.

For more data-driven reports, visit agile-hatch.com or contact us at [email protected]

Source: AgileHatch