Whether it’s online or land-based, there is something magical about slot machines. They’ve been around for nearly a century and are the most popular casino game. They were invented by Sittman and Pitt in 1891. Their machine consisted of five drums printed with cards and allowed players to win beer or cigarettes.
Origins
The modern slot machine is an iconic gambling device that dominates casino gaming, but it wasn’t always like that. These machines were once the bane of many a gambler.
The first slot machine was invented by Sittman and Pitt in 1891. It featured a spinning drum with 50 card faces and winning combinations that were based on poker hands. Players inserted coins to spin the reels and prizes depended on the establishment, with a winning hand getting you anything from a beer to a cigar.
Charles Fey’s Liberty Bell machine had fewer possible winning combinations, but it was still a hit. He also introduced fruit symbols and the classic bar icon that’s still used today.
Symbols
The symbols used in slot machines can vary widely, but the classics are cherries, lemons, and bars. These symbols were some of the earliest ones available and they are still common today. They are often featured in the paytable, along with a brief description of the payouts for each symbol combination.
Charles Fey invented the modern slot machine in San Francisco in 1887. His creation was a gambling machine that simulated card-draw poker. It used three spinning wheels and five symbols: a cracked picture of the Liberty Bell, spades, hearts, horseshoes, and diamonds.
Fey’s invention was a hit, and manufacturers began copying it in 1907 to avoid legal restrictions on gambling machines. The Industry Novelty Company added fruit reels to the machine, replacing the card suits and numbers.
Payouts
During the time of American Prohibition, slot machines became very popular in saloons and speakeasies. They were also used in casinos until 1931, when they were banned nationwide. They would pay out cash coin prizes to players if they hit certain symbols.
A slot machine consists of a set of reels (typically three) with pictures on them. The winnings or losses are determined by which pictures line up with a pay line, which is a line in the middle of the window. These slots are known by many names, including fruit machines in Britain, poker machines in Australia, and pokies in New Zealand.
Bonus rounds
The next step in slot machine history came from the Chicago manufacturer Mills Novelty Company. Responding to a ban on cash-based machines, they devised the Operator Bell that replaced poker-based symbols with fruits like cherries and lemons. This improved the user experience and established a lasting association between fruit and slots. It also featured a staggered stop function for automatic payouts and the bar symbol that later became associated with the company logo.
This was the first time that a machine offered multiple payout lines, though it didn’t feature the complex software of today. However, it helped arouse public trust and advance slot technology.
Legality
While gambling machines are a staple of casinos, they have not always been legal. In fact, they first became popular during the American Prohibition era. In those days, slot machines would accept nickels and tokens that could be redeemed for drinks or cigars.
Eventually, these machines were banned by forces of morality and religion, leading to the invention of new ways to circumvent the law. One of these was by the Industry Novelty Company, who used symbols of fruit on their machines to imply they were dispensing gum.
After World War II, governments were drawn by the prospect of tax revenue and slot machines began to prosper again. In 1964, Bally, which started out as a Chicago pinball manufacturer, pushed the mechanical machine into the electric age with its Money Honey machine.
Online casinos
The modern slots you’ll find in casinos around the world are a far cry from Charles Fey’s primitive machine. They’ve evolved with technology and become a popular form of gambling worldwide, bringing in billions in revenue each year.
Fey’s first machine was a three-reel device with a single pay line. It was designed to make players feel like they had control over the outcome, which contributed to its popularity. This swayed governments to legalize slots after WWII, as they offered an opportunity to collect tax revenues. This allowed them to become more intricate and reliable. They also became more visually appealing. Eventually, computer technology helped them advance even further, with bonus features and multiple ways to win.