What is the history of slot machines?

Do you know that online slots are future machines of land based games?

While many other casino games have disputable roots, slot machines are the youngest of the games and their history can therefore be clearly traced back. Brooklyn, New York was the location for the development of the first slot machine in 1891 when Sittman and Pitt Company designed a gambling machine that is considered by many to be the predecessor to the modern day version.

This first slot machine contained five drums which held fifty card faces, and was based on the game of poker – the poker combinations determined the payout. The fifty symbols were divided between the five drums and the wheels would spin when a player placed a nickel in the slot and pulled down on the lever. The display at the end of the spin would determine whether the player won or not.

These early machines, however, did not make actual cash payouts. Generally the prizes would be in the form of goods from the bar in which the machine was located and would also depend on the quality of the hand displayed on the drums. The prizes probably took the form of a drink from the bar, a packet of cigarettes or a cigar.

These machines were extremely popular and within a short period of time nearly every bar in the city was hosting one. In order to further increase the odds for the house, two cards were occasionally removed from the deck – the Ten of Spades and the Jack of Hearts. The drums could also be moved around in order to further decrease the player’s winning potential.

Charles Fey is undoubtedly the Father of Slot Machines. Fey was a German immigrant to the United States and settled in New Jersey and then later in California. Fey was diagnosed with TB in his twenties and the doctors only gave him one year to live. Not only did Fey prove them totally wrong, he also managed to become a legend in the gambling world and lived to a healthy age.

In the late 1880's Fey developed what was known as the modern day slot machine. Fey created the first machine which was named Liberty Bell from his workshop in San Francisco in 1887. In size, Liberty Bell was slightly smaller than today’s slot machines, but the content was basically the same – 3 reels and 20 symbols which worked in the same manner as the current version.

The popularity of the Liberty Bell was enormous and fast-spreading. Soon Fey was mass producing the machines and had to work intense overtime in his workshop to meet the demands of the orders. The machine featured symbols such as bells, horseshoes, stars and the symbols found on cards – hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs. The machines were programmed to accept 5 cent coins and the payouts would depend on the results displayed on the spun reels – 2 coins for hitting the 2 horseshoes and up to as many as 20 coins for hitting three bells. Of course, there were many other variations in between.

Fey was not only a creator but also a very clever entrepreneur. Capitalizing on the success of his creation, Fey decided to rent out the machines to gambling venues at a 50% commission rate. Fey flatly refused to sell the manufacturing and distribution rights to anyone even though he was approached by several gambling manufacturers.

The start of the 1980s saw the birth of the computerized era of slot machines. Sircoma, a new company in the field, produced a video poker slot machine which caused a sensation in the industry. At first many players were wary of the video aspect of the machine, as they felt that they could not fully trust the fact that they could not see the reels spinning. These apprehensions soon disappeared when the success of the machine became apparent.

The computerized era also meant that players were presented with a wider range of choices and options. Machines now accepted bills so players no longer needed small change in order to play. Ultimately this meant that players could spend longer at the machine and less time in money changing queues.

Other machines were developed which allowed a player to choose from a selection of games from the same machine. These slot machines were becoming an all-inclusive gambling destination and which meant that players did not need to walk around the casino floor looking for different games. Bonus features were also added which enabled a player to have a chance to win more money, besides the already staggering jackpot prizes that most of the slot machines offered.