Slot Machine History
Slots as we know them today are really an adaptaion and modernisation of the ever popular one-armed bandits from years gone bye. Most slots nowadays are coin or card operated except for the online variety which are operated via a click of the mouse. The one-armed bandits were aptly named because of its ability to take all the punters money and leave them penniless.
The first ever slot machine was invented by a German immigrant around 1897 by a man named Charles Fey, where upon he named his first machine "The Liberty bell" due to the symbols he used as the winning jackpot combination. Other popular symbols included a horseshoe and the 4 faces of playing cards. By 1899 a rival company "sittman and pitt of broklyn" had taken Fey's 3 line slots and expanded it into a 5 drum payline slot which contained 50 card faces and was based on poker hands, pairs, straights, flushes and royal flushes. There was no set precident on payouts and the bar owners themselves would set the standard. With maybe a beer for a good pair and some tobacco, cigars or other item for a flush or royal flush respectivly. If no win occured then the term was considered a "Jack" which we still use today to determine we have "nothing" or "Got Jack".
A very popular but dirty trick some bar owners used to help profit off their machines was to remove the ten of spades and jack of hearts from the decks reels, which cut the odds of wining a Royal flush in half. Extreemly craft and vindictive it would result in a heafty jail sentance nowadays and rightly so.
Slot Machines
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Modern Day Slot Machines
Come 1902, and Gambling and one-armed bandits were outlawed, but because of the sheer buisness potential and love of these machines, most were converted into giving out sweets,candy, drinks, and gum, and they redecorated the wheels with pictures of the same calibre, giving rise to the ever popular and much recognised fruit slots we all know and recognise, With Oranges, Lemons and Cherrys and sticks of gum eventually mutating into the 1 green, 2 blue and 3 red bars we see on our slot machines today.
After the gambling prohobition it wasnt until about 1964 when slot machines popularity started to grow. As in 1964, Bally developed the first fully fledged electronically controlled slot machine called Money Honey. Bally was behind the invention of pinball machines and used there knowledge to futher develop the slot machines with more randomness, more reels and larger hoppers which could hold more money and offer bigger payouts. Then in 1980 with the rise of computers, the random number generator was invented which made the casino industry explode into the slot machine arena.With Las vegas style jumbo slots cabable of holding and calculating millions of random number generations and doing away with the old style cogs and wheels that powered the machines before, now it could all be done on computers and allowing for greater control over the payouts, money and graphics.
Slot machines today are far advanced in technology and sophistication and punters of the 1900's would proably think a spaceship had landed if they saw some of the slots we have and use in Las Vegas nowadays. With ever changing features, graphics and million dollar jackpots. Slot machines still have one thing in common, and that is they are funt o play. But remember the house advantage is by far bigger on slots than any other casino game and accounts for almost 70% of the modern day casinos profits, with punters and gamblers falling over themselves to win a roll-over mega jackpot from Vegas. Dont get me wrong i too would love to hit one but understand the reality of it actually happening. In my opinion slots should only ever be used for fun and never for profit. The ideal and best way to play them is too set asside a certain amount of money just for the slots and when its gone its gone, if u win great, but if u dont, then dont sweat it and move on. After all they say the Lottery is pointless and no one wil ever win with odds of 50,000,000 - 1, but somebody wins it every week. Mabe this time the jackpots waiting for you or me!.
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