History of Slots
Surprisingly, the history of slots is quite old. In 1887 Charles Fey, an American mechanic, developed the first slot machine, a three-reel affair with five symbols per reel. The symbols were spades, hearts, diamonds, horseshoes and Liberty Bell. The machine came to be known as Liberty Bell as this was the symbol that paid the highest.
The game rapidly became so popular that even when gambling was banned in California, where Fey lived, he had ample demand for the Liberty Bell from other parts of the country.
The game was then further developed by Sittman and Pitt, a New York-based company, in 1891. This version was much more complex and had five reels with 50 symbols, offering more excitement for the player. This slot machine became the foundation for slots that came later.
‘Money-Honey’ by Bally manufacturers came in 1963. This game was the first fully electromechanical slot that could give payouts of up to 500 coins without needing a human attendant to perform the payout function.
The first video slots were then introduced in 1976. These were modified versions of the original slot machines, made into games played on video screens, making them tamper-proof as well as offering great bonus and side games. After their intial introduction to the clubs of Las Vegas, they gained such popularity that they are even now used there.
Modern modifications led to the introduction of increased paylines in slot machine games, meaning more ways to win for players. Lots of slots now offer over 50 paylines and some have discarded the notion of paylines altogether, instead going on a ‘ways to win’ approach’.
Slot machines take up most of the available floorspace in casinos and bars and they are the most popular games with players, thereby the revenue generated also accounts for major part of the total revenue of the casino. The shifting of slot machines online has meant that online casinos are not subject to the same space restrictions that land-based casinos are, allowing them to stock a vast array of games.
Movie-based slot machines are the latest trend in the business of slot machines, and this shows no signs of slowing down. These types of slot machines have graphics or images based on movies and since the movies are often action-based, the games are very exciting.