Pokies In The Read World: The best live Aussie casinos to gamble at

1) Crown Melbourne:

No list of the best Australian casinos would be complete without The Crown. Currently the largest land-based casino in all of Australia, the Crown’s size and game selection is unrivaled. Featured games include roulette, blackjack, baccarat, and (wait for it) roughly 2,500 different pokies!

The total payout on the Crown’s gaming machines routinely climbs into the tens of millions on an annual basis, so finding a machine that offers a fair amount of player value for your gambling dollar isn’t much of a problem. Though the hotel is pricey, the Crown still sets the standard for luxury: The Crown Towers was ranked as the best Australian hotel in the 2014 edition of Luxury Travel Magazine, with its spa and retail/dining outlets garnering particular praise. If you’re Melbourne and in the market for a high-class weekend of gaming, the Crown needs to be on your shortlist.

Website: www.crownmelbourne.com.au

2) The Star:

Weighing in as the second largest casino in Australia, The Star features all of the traditional table games, such as baccarat, blackjack, craps, pai gow, roulette and Caribbean stud, as well as 1490 gaming machines. As you might expect, all of Australia’s favourite pokies can be found here, including perennial favourites such as the Queen of the Nile, Rad Baron, Zorro and 50 Dragons.

From 2009 to 2012 the Star spent nearly half a billion dollars on a total refurbishment, and the result has been a hotel casino complex that stands alongside the finest resorts in the world. The complex features eight bars, as well as a nightclub (The Marquee) and a whole host of restaurants. If you’re a gambler and you’re in Sydney you just have to make sure the Star is on your “must see” list.

Website: www.star.com.au

3) Treasury Brisbane:

While it’s hard to beat The Star or Crown Melbourne for sheer spectacle, the Treasury just might be the best casino in Australia for pokie players. The casino features nearly 1,300 machines, which includes a variety of both traditional poker and spinning reel machines and the Money Train hyperlink machines. The VIP program at the Treasury is terrific; the point allocations are generous, and points can be earned at any of the Queensland Absolute Reward properties (which include The Star and Jupiter’s Hotel and Casino Gold Coast, as well as the Treasury).

Website: www.treasurybrisbane.com.au

4) Crown Perth:

Another one of Australia’s finest land-based casinos, the Crown Perth is home to nearly 2,000 gaming machines, and, perhaps most importantly, it’s currently the only place to feature pokie play in Western Australia.

The Crown Perth is known for offering some of the finest casino promotions in Australia, including the classic Big Weekend promotion, which allows players to redeem points for entries into drawings that pay anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000, and Member Money night, which gives Crown Club members a chance to win some ridiculously huge cash prizes (jackpots have been known to climb to over $250,000). The restaurants at Crown Perth are some of Western Australia’s finest, with three of them, Silk’s, the Merrywell, and Neil Perry’s Rockpool Bar and Grill, recently winning best in category awards at the 2014 AHA-Aon Hotel and Hospitality Awards for Excellence.

Website: www.crownperth.com.au