Conclusion

Everything briefly summarized

Just to put everything in a row for clarity.

• Pokies is the Australian name for slot machines and games. There it really means nothing else at all.
• You play Pokies turning the machine (online is also possible and you don’t always have to use a lever as before) and hope that luck is on your side. There are often separate rules for each individual game and what can be won with them can differ.
• Luck is the most important thing in a game on a slot machine.
• The term Pokie (s) is used in both Australia and New Zealand.
• In all likelihood, the term refers to the Poker machines so called the locals in earlier times. The word can mean a lot more but Down Under it only means the game and nothing else.