History of Slots
Slot machines are definitely not new to the market, having been invented over a hundred years ago. When an American mechanic, Charles Fey, invented the first slot machine in 1887, he couldn’t have known that today they would be one of the most popular games in the casino. Fey’s original slot machine had three reels, each having five symbols over it; these were spades, diamonds, horse shoes, diamonds, hearts and Liberty Bells. The Liberty Bells appearing in a combination of three gave the highest payout of all, so this slot machine was called a Liberty Bell.
The Liberty Bells became so popular that although gambling was banned in Fey’s home state of California, he couldn’t meet the day by day growing demand for the slot machine from other states.
As is true with all other inventions, the idea of the slot machine was soon taken up and modified by many developers. Sittman and Pitt of New York became slot machine developers and in 1891, they developed a five reeled slot machine for the first time using different poker combinations to give the payout. This machine was the first step of development for the slot machines that came later.
In 1963, a fully automated electromechanical machine that could itself payout over 500 coins without the help of an attendant was developed by Bally manufacturers. This machine was called Money-Honey.
Later on in 1976, the first video slots were introduced, they were modified versions of the original slot machines, and being less prone to tampering than its predecessors made them famous in casinos all over, so much so that after their first introduction to the clubs of Las Vegas, they gained popularity and are still used there.
Modern modifications led to the introduction of increased paylines in slot machine games, so much so that over 50 paylines were introduced in many of the slot machines. The greater the number of paylines, the more complex the machine, and many slot machines do not have paylines at all anymore; instead they have more than 243 ways of winning, making them a lucrative and interesting game.
Slot machines take up the most space in casinos and account for a major part of a casino’s sales. However, the shifting of slot machines online has meant that players no longer need to travel to a casino to play, and since the online casino is not restricted in terms of space, players have even more choice than before.