The History of Slots
From London to Tokyo, Sydney to Moscow, the slot machine can be found in its countless variations in casinos, pubs, clubs and pool halls. Known as pachisuro in Tokyo and still referred to as the one-armed bandit in Great Britain, slot machines have made a world tour while coming a long way from its initiation over one hundred years ago and turning into what it is today- an integral part of gaming culture and one of the most beloved form of entertainment for millions around the world.
One fateful day back in
1887 a Californian car mechanic by the name of Charles Fay invented the first "Liberty Bell" slot machine. Fay's original machine was quite
similar to what we still know and recognize today- a machine containing three spinning drums, each covered with various symbols (the horseshoes, diamonds,
spades and hearts of the original machine have since been switched with countless other variations). The game became an instant hit amongst bar goers and the
original manufacturers could not even keep up with the demand for more machines.
If you take some time off from the casino on your next trip to Vegas and tour around Reno, Nevada, you can still see the original "Liberty Bell" slot machine - the one who started this craze - at the Liberty Belle Saloon & Restaurant there. Amongst the different names the machine received throughout the years was "fruit machine", and the "one-armed bandit", only later on in the twentieth century did the machine officially come to be known as a "slot machine", a name previously reserved for vending machines.
Determined to retain all rights to his invention, Fey insisted on manufacturing his machine in his small shop in San Francisco, but when demand got too high, larger manufacturers tried to get in on the deal. A Chicago arcade machine manufacturer by the name of Herbert Mills eventually began manufacturing a knock-off where he placed fruit symbols on the machine's drums (hence the name fruit machine). The rest was history and the slot machine was officially part of the mainstream.
Since the original slot machine was initially intended as a solution to pass the time in pubs and tavern, prizes that were offered for a winning pull of the reel were mainly free drinks, cigars, or chewing gum. Three-of-a-kind displaying three liberty bells won the player a jackpot and hence the biggest prize of the house (the very early machines even had a built-in bell which would ring each time a winning combination appeared). Today, the slot machine is a big money maker both for the house and for the lucky contestant who hits the jackpot.
The slot machine has also made a very smooth entrance into the electronic age with different versions of the original game. In 1975 the Fortune Coin Company introduced the very first electronic slot machine, also known as video slots. And then came the internet and online slots now come in all shapes and designs with exciting bonus screens. While offline casinos host rows of people sitting alone in front of the slot machine sporting a big bucket of coins, the internet has brought a more communal version of Fey's brainchild, namely tournaments. Online gaming sites today offer different progressive jackpot tournaments where players from all over the world join an online tournament and compete for the pot of a selected tournament.
Having come a long way from its original form, the slot machine has proved its survival skills in the rough gaming market and is set to move forward with the times as the casino prepares to enter a new era in gambling.





