Do pokies floors now beat the local pubs for a good night out?

FreespinLord, the fast cage is the real luxury, once you've been through this cycle before you learn to appreciate it. Was spinning the older style games near the tables myself, nothing flashy, but they were ticking over nicely. Funny how the machines that used to pay still hold their charm compared to all these new ones 😉

The five-minute cage turnaround is certainly a relief when you've had a solid session, much like a smooth drive down the Queenstown hills. While the efficiency of cashing out is undeniable, for any player assessing a venue, the real story is how the specific titles performed; a high volatility game can look brilliant for an hour but suffer a significant dip in expected value over the long run. What I've found is that a consistently reliable hit rate on the day often beats the flashy volatility spikes.

What is an "older style" game, Steve? 🤔 Are they just simpler slots, or something else? 😅

A five-minute cage payout, eh. That's the part I actually rate, because you hear "it paid" from punters all day and half of them have never walked it to the counter. If you physically watched a bloke count your winnings out over the counter in under five minutes, that's the only proof I care about. Screenshot of a balance means nothing, cash in the hand means everything. Only catch I'd hunt for is whether that pace holds on a Saturday night when the floor's packed. Easy enough to be quick with three people at the cage on a quiet Friday. Still, fast cash-out and classics ticking over nicely sounds like they're doing the basics right. Worth another visit to see if it repeats.

Paul_Win is spot on, a cage payout you've physically walked away with beats any screenshot. Only caveat I'd add is that a fast cash-out on a small spin sample proves the counter is efficient, nothing about how the floor pays long term, the volatility of whatever machine took your money stays the same either way. Got my own cage queue story from a Friday visit, waited longer for a coffee than for the bloke to count my NZ$ out, and I still dropped most of it back on the classics next visit. 📊

Fair point from NeonMaster, one quick cage visit says nothing about the machines long term. But I'll take a counter that actually pays over a pub with pokies that eat your note and hand you a paper receipt for the "winnings". If the floor's that lively on a Friday, sounds worth a wander next time I'm over that way, keen to see the classics myself.

Win24 nails it about pub pokies handing you a receipt and calling it a win. I've had those nights too, note goes in, ticket comes out, and you're standing there doing mental arithmetic on what you actually walked away with. One caveat I'd add to the fast cage story though, and NeonMaster hinted at it. A smooth counter on Friday tells you the venue is run well, nothing about whether the floor was paying or whether you caught a good stretch on a high volatility machine. Same caveat I give mates about my own sessions. My spin samples are tiny, even after years of keeping my own notes on whatever I play. Fifty quid's worth of spins on a volatile game can swing wildly either way and prove nothing about the long term. That said, the cage experience is the bit you can actually judge from one visit, and under five minutes with no queue is genuinely good service. Most pubs in town couldn't pay you at all, you'd be feeding the next note in before you'd finished counting your losses. 📊

Same at my last visit. Watched a punter walk a decent hit to the cage and walk back out counting notes before I'd finished my drink. Pub pokies never do that.

That counting-notes-in-hand moment is the best feeling aye 😄 makes the pub ticket thing feel a bit sad honestly. Maybe I'm being dumb but five minutes at the cage sounds dreamy!