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<strong>Slots</strong> - The history<br />
of popular slot<br />
machines
From one-armed bandits to video slots called slot<br />
machines or slot games, they have come a long way<br />
and are constantly evolving.The origins of slot<br />
machines date back to the late 19th century. The<br />
first slot machine was developed in 1891 by the New<br />
York company Sittman and Pitt. The game had 5<br />
drums with a total of 50 playing cards. The machine<br />
could be found in many bars and cost a nickel.
The players would use their money and pull the<br />
lever to play. Payouts were made for placing the<br />
poker hands on the reels. To raise the house<br />
edge, you remove 2 cards from the machine - the<br />
ten of spades and the jack of hearts. This reduced<br />
the chances of a Royal Flush by half. The machine<br />
had no direct payout mechanism. People had to<br />
go to the bar to get their payouts. These were not<br />
monetary prizes, such as free drinks and cigars.
The first real video slot<br />
1976 was the year in which the first real video slot was<br />
developed. The slot machine was manufactured in Kearny<br />
Mesa California by Las Vegas-based Fortune Coin. The slot<br />
machine used a modified 19 inch Sony TV for the display. As a<br />
result, the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel provided the first game.<br />
Shortly thereafter, the video slot machine received approval<br />
from the Nevada State Gaming Commission. Soon after, it<br />
became very popular in the Las Vegas Strip. In 1978 Fortune<br />
Coin was taken over by IGT. Nowadays there are a lot of online<br />
slots like that top-canadiancasinos.com/free-slots/gonzosquest/,<br />
that are for sure very interesting for players<br />
The next milestone in slot history came in 1996 with the<br />
release of "Reel 'Em" by WMS Industries Inc, the first video<br />
slot machine with a second screen bonus round. When the<br />
bonus round was triggered, a completely different screen was<br />
displayed on which the bonus game took place. Additional<br />
payouts can be won during this bonus round. During this time,<br />
slots became more and more popular in casinos. In fact, they<br />
accounted for around 70% of a casino's income and 70% of<br />
the available space.
The inventor of slot machines<br />
Charles Augustus Fey is often referred to as the inventor<br />
of the first slot machine. There is no information about<br />
the date of manufacture of his first machine, although it<br />
is assumed that it was made between 1887 and 1895. Fey<br />
developed a machine that enabled automatic payouts. To<br />
achieve this, he reduced the complexity of reading a win<br />
for the machine.<br />
He achieved this by replacing the existing 5 drums with 3<br />
drums. He also replaced the playing cards with only 5<br />
symbols - hearts, diamonds, spades, horseshoes and a<br />
Liberty Bell. The highest payout was given for 3 bell<br />
symbols, so the machine was named Liberty Bell. The<br />
machine enjoyed great popularity. Since Fey did not<br />
patent its design, it was copied by many other slot<br />
machine manufacturers.
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