The History Of Slot Machines

Slot Machines: Nowadays, almost every gambling person knows what a slot machine is. The history of slot machines is about 120 years; during this time, they have managed to conquer many.

The History Of Slot Machines
Image Source: Wikipedia

Slot Machines History

Slot machines first appeared in 1887 after auto mechanic Charles Augustus Fye (1862-1944), a German-American, invented the very first slot machine. This slot machine was powered by five-cent coins called the Liberty Bell. Charles Fye assembled these machines by hand in his machine shop and then rented them out.

“Liberty Bell” was a three-disk automaton (with three drums). These disks worked independently of each other with different rotation speeds. The drums had card suits and bells on them. The structure of the “Liberty Bell” for many years determined the appearance of slot machines. Small coins were inserted into a special tray for the game.

The engines had no payment mechanism, so the winning money was paid to the players by the establishment’s owner. The maximum winnings that could be obtained was 10 coins of 5 cents. The slot machine soon received another name – “one-armed bandit” (one-armed bandit) because the player was quickly left with nothing. There is an adaptation of it in GambinoSlot.

Around 1891, the first poker machine appeared, which had playing cards on five reels. If a coin fell into the device, the drums began to spin; when a winning combination fell out, the player received money from the owner.

Soon, such gambling machines began to be produced on a massive scale. They returned three 5-cent coins in exchange for one, which enticed players. This mechanical machine was the forerunner of modern slots online.

Mechanical slot machines soon became very popular despite the imperfections of the design. About a year later, Charles Fye opened a factory to manufacture jackpot machines. In such devices, when the weight of coins reached a specific gravity, the flaps extended, and the winnings poured out. They did not last long, however, as all it took to win was a hard knock on the machine.

Soon, in 1897, slot machines were banned in California. This was because no taxes were paid on the coins from the devices or on the winnings. A corresponding law was issued, which prohibited gambling; the machines were converted into machines for selling candy and gum.

By the way, those symbols (cherry, plum, pear, the inscription “bar”), which are currently present on the reels of slots when playing, are a reminder of these challenging times. Slot machines in Britain are even called fruit machines.

Prominent business people in gambling considered the machines a very profitable business. They asked Charles Fay to sell the rights to manufacture and distribute machines, but he refused. In 1907, an industrialist from Chicago, Herbert Stiffer Bell,

Began to produce machines similar to the “Liberty Bell” machines. By 1910, slots appeared in almost every city in the country, attracting more and more people. The spread of slot machines in Europe began after one of Fay’s slot machines was stolen by Novelty.

By 1949, slot machines appeared in Las Vegas at the Flamingo Hilton Hotel. Initially, they were supposed to entertain girlfriends and wives of the rich, who splay social casino roulette or cards. However, slot machines soon took over the casino players as well.

Slot machines were constantly being improved. Modern slots are already played without a reel and lever. Instead, a computer chip is built into the device, and the place has a control button and a monitor with the image of rotating drums.

In the mid-80s, slot machines and table games were roughly equal in popularity. By the 90’s, slot machines were confidently leading among gambling games; the machines brought the owners a considerable part of the profit at their expense.

Not surprisingly, slot machines won people’s love. After all, to get a big win requires only a relatively small fee and, of course, luck.

Types Of Slot Machines

Gambling machines are a relatively new trend in gambling that appeared about 120 years ago. Once, candy and trinkets were offered as winnings.

Currently, it is customary to distinguish several types of slot machines (slot machines):

  • mechanical (wheeled) types of slot machines;
  • video slots;
  • video poker;
  • multi-terminal.

Slot machines differ in the number of reels and the number of pay lines. All types of slot machines have buttons, the value of which is constant, although, of course, there may be exceptions. In most cases, the inscription on the switch corresponds to the action performed after pressing it. Notes are usually made in English. Below are variants of descriptions that the player can meet.

For all slot machines, there are table payouts for symbols so the player can always determine his winnings when certain combinations are used. Modern slot machines usually have 9 or 20 lines. Rarely are there types of slot machines that have up to a hundred playing lines.

At the beginning, the free-to-play makes the desired bet and spins the reels (more often by pressing the button). If the winning line corresponds to a winning combination, then the determination of the amount of winnings is done by the table.

The first slot machines differed significantly from today’s slot machines. Unchanged only the idea of the game – to win, the player must collect a winning combination of symbols. The game’s simple rules and the fascinating process made slot machines one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the casino.

Harshit

A young passionate entrepreneur with more than 2+ years of experience & demonstrated history of working in the digital marketing and advertising industry. Skilled in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Link Building, Digital Marketing, and Digital Media.

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