The term "pokies" is short for "poker machines," which is a common name for slot machines in Australia. The term likely originated from the fact that many early slot machines in Australia were based on poker card games. Over time, "pokies" became the widely used term for slot machines in the country.

Pokies are called slot machines in American English and fruit machines in British English which may be a bit easier to recognise than pokie  or online pokies .