Slots history

We all know the slot machines that you can find in every casino. You could not pass by without notice the machine with colored reels and many flashy lights. They look very tempting and seem to invite you to take a sit and give it a spin. But did you ever wondered about the slot machines history? How old is this kind of game?

The first slot machine is “Liberty Bell”, invented in 1887 by Charles Fey from San Francisco, California. The Liberty Bell used Diamonds, Spades, Horseshoes, Hearts and the Liberty Bell Symbol, being the first machine that used symbols  instead of playing cards, each reel of the three containing all five symbols. The largest pay-out was fifty cents for three Liberty Bell symbols on the single pay line.

The very first Liberty Bell slot designed by Fey is still in the Liberty Belle Saloon and Restaurant in Reno, owned by his grandchildren.
In few years the Liberty Bell slot machine became very known especially when they were put in the Flamingo Hilton hotel in the Las Vegas strip. After Liberty Bell, Fay created the Operator Bell Slot machine. This slot features the famous fruit symbols, and became the standard for slot machines.

Slots machines were so popular in California that the State banned mechanical gambling devices. The interdiction forced Fey to sell his slots in other States. Due to its incredible success, many imitators emerged and more slot games were produced. The Bell-Fruit Gum Company soled the slot machine concept from Fey and used it to mass produce machines that dispensed gum for every pull. This is where the BAR symbol comes from. They also used fruit symbols suggesting the gum’s flavor. This is when the first fruit slots machines were introduced and where the popular melon and cherry symbols that we still see today come from.

In 1891 the Sittman and Pitt Company in Brooklyn, New York invented a poker based slot machine. Their slot had five round drums like reels with ten cards on each. The Sittman and Pitt slot used a deck of playing cards minus two, reducing the chances of a player to get a royal flush. The two cards pulled out were usually the Jack of Hearts and the ten of Spades, but every owner could switch the order of the cards or which cards to choose.

For a spin the player had to pay a nickel so its considered that this is the first nickel slot in history. These slots became very popular in bars in New York. The machine couldn’t make automatic pay-out due to the vast number of possible winning combination, so the bar tender or owner would check the reels and give the player his prize, cigars or drinks. The prizes where different from bar to bar, the owners deciding what the prize are.

Bally created in 1963 first fully electromechanical slot machine called "Money Honey". This is the first slot machine with automatic pay-out (up to 500 coins) without the help of an attendant. This slot machine gain huge popularity and is the first modern slot machine.

In 1996 WMS Industries Inc. developed “Reel 'Em”, the first video slot machine to offer a second-screen bonus round.

The slots became even more popular and accesible since the online casinos where created. At this point hundreds of online casinos offer various types of slots: iSlots, progressive slots, 5 reel slots and 3 reel slots. This is Vegas is an online casino that offers all these types of slots totalizing over 40 slots games.