How to Identify High Variance Online Pokies

Added: November 5, 2015

When you go to a sports game or a theatre show, you pay an amount for the ticket. In return you have a good time, but do not get any money back. Many online casino players treat this activity in the same way. For them having a good time is the thrill of aiming for big payouts. If they win then it is a big bonus for them. But they are not bothered if they lose their bankroll, because they have enjoyed themselves in the process. Such players look out for high variance online pokies. These are online pokies that do not deliver frequent payouts, but deliver large payouts from time to time. The problem is that neither the Australian online casinos, nor their software providers reveal whether a particular pokie has high variance or low variance. This article will acquaint you with some of the tell-tale signs of high variance pokies.

If the top line payout, for five of a kind combination, is large then it is an indication of high variance. If this payout is 5,000 times the line bet, then the pokie is in the high variance zone. If this payout is 10,000 times the line bet or more then it is definitely a high variance online pokie. The symbol that awards this payout will be fewer in number on the reels so the winning combinations will not appear frequently. But if you manage to hit the combination, you will have money for your other requirements.

Online pokies with fewer paylines tend to have higher variance than those with more paylines. All ways to win pokies have the lowest variance. A 243 ways to win pokie will pay out on all like symbol combinations. On the other hand a 30 paylines pokie covers only about 12% of the possible combinations, so you will get winning combinations that much less often. In order to compensate for this, the payouts will be proportionately larger.

The standard trigger for a bonus feature in most online pokies is getting three scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. In some online pokies the trigger requires three scatter symbols aligned from left to right or on an active payline. Other things being equal, the bonus feature will trigger less frequently in the second case and therefore is likely to pay more when triggered.

It has become the trend in free spins features to offer a choice to the player. The choice is usually between higher number of free spins with lower multipliers and lower number of free spins with higher multipliers. Players looking for higher variance should go for higher multipliers.