If you’ve ever been to a casino before, you’ll understand why slot machines are so popular. Even to this day after being invented way back in the 19th century, they’re still one of the most popular casino games in the world. Some say about 30% of casino profits come from them alone . Available at land based casinos and online, they’re everywhere, and there are thousands of games to select from.
With a huge international appeal, people call these machines differently around the globe. For example, in Australia they call them “pokies”. The reason is because the symbols on the first machine were poker symbols. In England, some people call them “fruit machines” since a lot of the classic ones had fruit symbols on them. Regardless of the name, they’re a huge hit all over the globe and have come a long way over the years. With so much history in the making of these machines, we find it interesting to discuss the history of slot machines: invention, evolution & future. We’ll be focusing on topics such as who invented slot machines, the evolution as well as 3D slots.
Who Invented Slot Machines
As we get ready to discuss who invented slot machines, it’s important for us to mention that the dates we’re using are approximations. We’ll also be talking about a controversial subject on who was the first person to invent this machine.
In any case, it is clear that the early beginnings can be seen going back to the 19th century. It is believed that Sitmann and Pitt from Brooklyn, New York came out with the first gambling machine back in 1891. This gambling machine isn’t the slot machine you’re probably used to, but is more similar to a poker machine, as the symbols are cards and the concept it poker. On the machine are 5 drums holding 50 cards faced down. Instead of pressing a button, the machine was equipped with a lever you would need to pull after placing money inside. Afterwards, the drums would spin the cards, and the object was to land a strong poker hand. The rewards from these machines were not automatic. Instead the prize could be something like a beer from the bar it was available at.
From the poker machine we discussed, many people believe the very first slot machine wasn’t invented until 1895 by a guy named Charles Fey in California. His machine (the Liberty Bell) is the original design having only three reels, but had the ability to trigger payouts automatically. Unlike the card based game that Sitmann and Pitt came out with, Fey’s machine included other symbols such as horseshoes and liberty bells. These symbols would need to line up in order to create a winning payout. His success with this machine design was so big that other competitors eventually copied him. With gaining popularity, people started calling it the one-armed bandit as the design featured a lever on the side. With much success, Fey ended up opening the Slot Machine Factory in 1896. Nowadays the original Liberty Bell machine cannot be played anymore, but can be found on display at the museum in Reno.
Evolution of Slot Machines
These gambling machines have come a long ways and have a pretty long history. Before we get ready to talk about the evolution of slot machines you should know by now that they were a lot different from the typical machine you’ll see at the casino today. With the launch of electronic machines, you don’t even have to pull the lever down to spin the reels anymore, but instead you can activate them by simply pressing a button. You’ll also notice that a majority of them now have 5 reels on them instead of the classic 3 that was first introduced. Speaking of all the changes, let’s go ahead and take a look at the evolution of them over the years.
- 1891 – The year Sitmann and Pitt invented the first gambling machine.
- 1895 – The year Charles Fey invented the first slot machine featuring automatic payouts and 3 reels. The biggest win from this machine back then was a whopping ten nickels and was called the Liberty Bell.
- 1907 – After slots were banned in 1902, a new machine came out by a man named Herbert Mills. This is where the first fruit symbols appeared on the reels, and instead of having cash prizes, the payout prizes were in the forms of sweets, such as chewing gum.
- 1963 – the first electromechanical machine was introduced by Bally. It was called Money Honey and the reels were electronic, however you still needed to pull the lever in order to spin the reels. It was also able to make automatic payouts for up to 500 coins. After a while, after gaining more popularity, the lever was removed from the machine and was replaced with a button.
- 1976 – was the year the very first video slot was invented. It was created in California by a company in Las Vegas called Fortune Coins. The original machine had a Sony television to display the videos on the machine and was first featured at the Hilton Hotel in Vegas. Not very long after the machine gained much success and was being spotted in almost every hotel on the Vegas strip.
- 1994 – the big year where the very first online casino introduced video slots. From that year onward, it’s been a huge success in the gaming industry and is being played by millions of people from all over the world, without having to go to a casino.
- 1996 – was the year the first video slot came out with a second screen of a bonus round. After a bonus round was activated, a new screen would appear with a bonus game for a chance to win more. These new machines also contributed about 70% of the income from casinos.
- 2012 – There was a study done in England concluding that the citizens there spent approximately 5 billion pounds on their video slots, both online and on the casino floors. Keep in mind, this study was done on just this country alone, so imagine how much more it would be if the study included the entire world.
3D Slots
From the very first gambling machine that came out in the 19th century, to a whole new generation of 3D video slots. These 3D slots we created in order to make the video screen as much 3D as possible. These machines are available online and at land based casinos, and they do not require any special glasses, which is why the designers are trying to create the symbols and characters as life like as they can. The art on these slots are look so real sometimes it almost feels like their popping out at you. With the graphics being so well designed, there’s a lot of work that comes in place from the artists. These games are pretty similar to video slots except for the extremely high-quality graphics they have. The slots are very appealing. They’re the latest of the latest and a good indicator that the slot industry continues to advance and grow more each day.
After taking a look at the evolution of slot machines, it’s awesome to see how far they’ve come, and how they continue to progress. With technology continuing to evolve, and them still being very popular, there’s just no telling what could be introduced next. It’s amazing how such a simple machine became huge in the entertainment industry.