If you've been around for a few years, then you may have noticed just how much slots have changed in a short time. The history of slot machines involves a culture that, over time, also represents an evolution of popular trends and social movements in society.
Slot machines have changed over their course, due to advancements in technology and social change. They haven't actually been around that long – a little over a hundred years – but that time has been marked by the revolutionary movement in society. Another telling aspect of the evolution of the slot machine is that they were intended and marketed towards your average joe. Because they were invented and marketed for the average person, slot machines became popular very quickly and easily. Most casino table games were meant for people with class and money, but slots were made for your run of the mill gambling person, so they historically followed the widely available technology and law-abiding qualities of real-people, day-to-day society.
The first slot machine that was designed by Charles Fey was simple yet elegant, with none of the bells and whistles of today's popular slot machines. The three-reel design in slot machines of today is powered electronically which is a far cry from their predecessors that worked on cogs and gears.
- The Creation of the First Video Slot Machine. Fortune Coin Co created the first-ever true electronic slot machine in 1976. The initial developers of that machine were J. Reaukes, W.Beckman, N. Greene, and L.Black. This video slot machine had a modified 19-inch color screen.
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The first slot machine
The history of slot machines begins with their invention. The race to produce the first commercial slot machine reached its height in the last decade of the nineteenth century. On opposite coasts of the United States, people were striving to make a handy and fun game that could be played in all sorts of venues, whether it was in a diner or a bar. The first real star to walk onstage with their slot machine invention was a company called Sittman & Pitt. They came bearing a poker slot game, with five rotating barrels that had playing cards painted onto them. The goal of this game was easy to grasp, because the paylines and winning combinations corresponded to hand rankings in poker. By removing certain card options from the barrels, Sittman & Pitt was able to create the house edge that has been spurning players ever since, making it harder for someone to get the winning hand, or a royal flush. The Sittman & Pitt slot machine was so primitive, though, that it didn't contain the mechanics to dispense money for a winning stroke. Instead, it would often be up to the establishment who owned the machine to provide a prize, such as a free drink or cigarettes.
Next down the line with early slot models comes the 'Liberty Bell.' Out on the west coast in the year 1899, Charles Fey created a machine that more closely resembles the slots we know and love today. He catered his machine towards the general public, using fewer reels and an illustrated payout table so that winning combinations would be easy to recognize, even for those who weren't bona fide poker champs. The 'Liberty Bell' slot game gets its name from the winning combination, which is three cracked liberty bell symbols lined up on the payline. This was the first widely sold slot machine to dispense prizes for winning spins.
The last notable innovation in old-time slot machines was Mill's slot game, 'Operator Bell.' This machine took Fey's Liberty Bell game and changed it according to the social restrictions of the time. With anti-gambling laws passing through legislation, giving out cash prizes soon became illegal. So Mill's replaced the symbols with images of fruit, and whatever fruit symbol you got, you received a piece of gum with that flavor. The BAR symbol, which is still hugely popular in modern slots, comes from this particular machine. It resembles the Bell Fruit Gum Company's logo – the same gum dispensed to players of this slot.
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Read moreProhibition of slot machines
The slot machine industry was widely popular before prohibition set in, and people of the time just couldn't seem to let go of their beloved slot games. Frankenstein slot machine. When bars and other alcohol-selling institutions were outlawed, slots had to evolve in order to survive. Take the Mill's Novelty Company's slot game, Operator Bell, for example. The popularity of this machine extended well into the prohibition era, so the machines were moved from legal bars to underground speakeasies. Instead of the ringing bell that had previously accompanied the game, they manufactured quiet and therefore undetectable machines, which gave them their newer name of 'Silent Bells.'
Around this time, a popular term was born into prohibition culture and the history of real money slot machines. 'The one-armed bandit,' an endearing nickname for slot machines that you may have heard of, actually comes from a specific reference to a type of slot that was widespread and well known with the same name. The one-armed part referred to the slot machine's lever, which you pulled to spin the reels. And the machine was known as a bandit because of its incredibly low payout rate. It often took the money and offered no winning combinations, leaving the player without a prize or their original bet. One-armed bandits stayed at peak production through the 1930s until after the end of prohibition.
Electromechanical technology
In the 60s, there was a leap of technological advancement in society. It helped create color television, massive computerized systems, and even helped put a man on the moon. Nothing was left untouched during this revolution, including the slots industry. In 1964, the history of slot machines once again experienced a revolution when Bally Technologies introduced a game changer that would affect the beloved slot machine forever. This slot resembled the ones people were playing before, except instead of pulleys and springs to get the reels rolling and fix the odds, this machine used electronic motors. Called 'Money Honey', this game featured more reels, fun sound effects, and brighter symbols. With better technology came larger hoppers, allowing players to bet more and win bigger prizes. These are the precursors that most closely resemble the slot machines you may see lining the walls of Vegas casino floors.
A few short years later, Bally continued to pioneer the slot industry with the invention of random number generators and video machines. This use of video slots helped carve the path out for the future of online slot games – the ones you love so much today. Without Bally, we wouldn't have the hundreds of bonus and progressive slots that CoolCat and other online casinos offer players today.
Modern Slots
Since then, slot games have come a long way, both in live casinos and online gambling floors. Just like there are things to learn from playing slots at live casinos, real online casinos have a lot to offer players as well. Video slots no longer have the simple interface depicting the spinning reels like they used to. 3D slot games, for example, have extremely high quality, video game-like graphics, bonus features that take you to different screens, and interactive elements that keep you interested in the game and make you want to continue spinning. The variable music and bright images are attractive, and bonuses make spinning the reels just one more time with the hope of making that jackpot that much more rewarding and exciting. The popularity of online casinos is continually growing, and with more technological advancements, the evolution of slot machines will keep changing with the times.
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First Slot Machine 1895 Invented By
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Everyone knows how a slot machine works. You put your money in, pull the lever and hope that the reels match up for the big payout. What you may not know is that the history of slot machines is fascinating and shows just where they're headed in the future.
The Origin of Slot Machines
The term 'slot machine' originally referred to standard vending machines when it was first coined back in the 1880s. The name comes from dropping a nickel into the coin slot to get the product you wanted.
By 1885, the first machines designed for gambling were created, but they bore little resemblance to what we call a slot machine today. These were novelty machines that featured things like toy horses racing around a small track, and patrons of bars and saloons would often bet nickels or tokens that could be redeemed for drinks and cigars. Slots garden no deposit bonus.
In 1891 a Brooklyn establishment developed a machine that was closer to what we know today. This machine had five drums, and each drum had 10 different card faces on it, which made it a primitive slot poker machine. Like before, people would put nickels in and get drinks or cigars as prizes based on the hands they won. The 10 of spades and jack of hearts were not included on most machines, which made it harder for people to get a royal flush. A big problem, however, was that automatic payouts were impossible due to a large amount of winning combinations.
History of Slot Machines at the Turn of the 1900s
First Slot Machine Invented
Finally, in 1894-5, a Bavarian-born San Franciscan named Charles Fey created the 'Liberty Bell', the first true slot machine. This used three spinning reels with five symbols on each. These symbols were the eponymous bells, hearts, spades, diamonds, and horseshoes. The simpler and smaller method allowed automatic payouts of actual cash, and three bells produced the biggest payout of 50 cents. Over 100 of these machines were made, but only four survive today due to the 1906 earthquake and subsequent fire.
Competitors quickly refined the original design. By 1909, they were finding ways to circumvent the bans on slot machines that were being imposed by many states and cities. The card suits were replaced with the now-ubiquitous fruits, and anyone who got three like fruits would win some chewing gum of that flavor.
Most of these early 'chewing gum dispensers' didn't have slots for nickels, and the financial transactions were done over the bar itself. They did, in time, have slots for ejecting chewing gum. The 'bar' symbol was developed in 1910, and it was originally a variation on the logo of the Bell-Fruit Gum Company. In 1916, the first true jackpot originated when the Mills Novelty Company developed a way to regurgitate all the machine's coins with certain reel combinations.
By 1920, however, many states caught on, and even these machines were banned. In 1931, gambling was legalized in Nevada, and slot machines quickly became a top method of making money. By 1951, Nevada was the only state that had legal slot machines, but other states and other countries started having changes of heart because of the amount of money that could be made.
By 1963, the first fully electromechanical slot machine, 'Money Honey', had been invented. This allowed things such as bottomless coin hoppers, automatic payouts of up to 500 coins, and 3- or 5-coin multipliers, allowing extra ways to play and win. In 1976, the first true all-video machines were created, where people could just press a button.
Caesar casino slots free coins. In 1986, the method of linking multiple machines of the same type was developed, allowing higher super jackpots linked to anyone playing on those machines. Improvements in computer technology and random number generation have led to the slots we love today.
Why Are Slots So Popular?
First, they're designed to make the player seem like they have more control over the game. This is despite the fact that they actually have less control over how they fare than they would with anything else in a casino. There's no dealer involved, no other players and no one standing by to remind you of what you have to do. There's just you and the machine.
Second, they're designed for people to have fun. Unlike card games, which involve a lot of pressure, psychology and personal skill to win, the only thing you have to do is pull the lever or press the button to enjoy the sounds and pictures. If you do manage to win a good amount, you are greeted with bright lights and virtual confetti on top of your winnings.
Third, they're designed to bring out all of our ideas about luck. Since they are computerized to ensure a completely random outcome, we get to see if crossing our fingers or holding that rabbit's foot actually means something.
What the Future Holds for Slot Machines
The technology continues to evolve and adapt to new trends in gaming. Millennials are less likely to use slot machines than their elders because they prefer skill to sheer luck. To solve this problem, new skill-based machines are being developed.
As sports betting is expanding, another concept being reviewed is a combination betting machine that would allow players to bet on sports and slots at the same time. Voice controls are also on the horizon for many slot machine manufacturers, and so are machines that accept cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
