 A
brief slot machine history
Along our slot machine street, we offer free slots gaming for you and anyone
else that wants 'in' on our slots. Click the green dice over there to
the right to pop-up our game window and follow the simple steps to
sign up and start playing for FREE. It's all for fun, and we will start you
off with 1,000 free points. For now, we don't have our own slot machine tournaments
and competitions for players that want to try to gather the highest points,
but that and more may be available soon along the Slot-Machine Street. So, if
great slot machine fun and excitement is what you seek, simply click the image
above to start the wheels turning. For a brief slot machine history, please
read on below.
There is a wide variety of coin and token-operated slot machines that you can
play in the casinos these days. They all however have a common ancestor and
their lineage can be traced back to the very first slot machine that was invented
by a Bavarian immigrant named Charles Fey in the early 1890s. Fey was a machinist
and skilled metal worker and he was responsible for the development of the design
that is still in use today - a set of wheels with a variety of symbols on them
and payoffs that are determined by specific combinations of symbols.
The wheels on these early slot machines were decorated with familiar symbols
such as the hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs (obviously taken from the standard
card deck), along with other symbols that included horseshoes, stars and Liberty
Bells. The biggest payout on Fey's machines occured when three Liberty Bells
lined up, thus the slots soon became known as "Liberty Bells" or "Bells".
Fey lived in San francisco at the time and he installed his machines in taverns
around the Bay Area where they quickly became popular. The machines sat atop
the bar where customers had easy access to them.
At first the payoffs were free drinks, but cash soon replaced this option as
the medium of exchange. Back then, you could play using nickels (yes, a nickel
could buy a very decent lunch), and paid out up to ten nickels depending on
the combinations that lined up in the window. Fey had arrangements with the
bar owners so they split the profits from each machine, and the machines themselves
soon gained the name 'nickel-in-the-slot-machines' which was later shortened
to the name which is most familiar - slot machines.
Fey's slot machine idea didn't remain his own for very long, and soon copy cats
took the lead, some developing more sophisticated and novel variations on Fey's
original design. Soon there were many slot machine manufacturers and although
they all used the same basic format, the wheels grew in size as new symbols
were added and a wider variety of payoff options made possible. Fruits quickly
became a popular and common symbol on the slots. The use of various fruits became
so common that the name another nickname, 'fruit machines', became popular.
The 3-cherry payout that is found on so many contemporary machines is a vestige
of this early design.
Around the start of the 20th century, a slot machine manufacturer by the name
of Herbert Mills made a simple but very significant change to the slots' design.
He widened the payout window so that the slot player could not only see the
symbols on the payoff line, but he/she could also see just below and above it
as well. Today, virtually all slot machines have this design. Being able to
see the possible combinations that were 'just missed' undoubtedly adds some
'delicious agony' to the vibe, spirit and enjoyment that comes from playing
the slots.
Mills added many new innovations that have lasted to this day, including the
concept of a giant payoff in the form of a jackpot. We have linked to - More
on the history of slots and the 411
on the history of slot machines.
Can't make it to Vegas? Try the slots at these established online casinos:
Golden
Palace Online Casino
Grand
Online Casino
Flamingo
Club Casino
24kt Gold Casino
|
