History of Slots

In 1887 a 29 year old mechanic called Charles Frey invented the 1st slot machine in his basement .
He named the slot The Liberty Bell. The first Liberty Bell slot machines were made by hand by Fey and were put in local gambling clubs on a 50% share of the rentals basis.
The original symbols were like playing cards – diamonds , hearts and spades , along with stars , a horsehoe and Bells.
The very first original Liberty Bell is housed in Reno Nevada at a restaurant called "The Liberty Belle Saloon". This restaurant is owned and managed by Charles Fey’s grand children
Fey’s first slot machine was nothing like the slots game online today. It was extremely heavy as it was made out of cast iron and didn’t have the common fruit symbols that we all tend to associate with slot machines.
Fey then manufactured a fruit slot called the " Operator Bell " Slot machine. This was the slot that started the fruit symbol design that became very popular among slot machine manufacturers. As many people were against slot machines and gambling of any nature Charles Fey decided to design a slot machine that was more like a vending machine and designed quite a number of machines that operated the same way as a vending machine.
The Bell Fruit Gum Company were rumoured to have stolen one of Fey’s slot machines and landed up producing lots of slot machines that dispensed chewing gum every time the handle was pulled . This is where the famous "BAR" symbol came from – basically advertising for their chewing gum.

In 1909 the anti gambling movement rallied and got slot machines banned in San Francisco , followed by Nevada 12 months later.
The following year the State of California also banned them. In the 1930’s people became so anti gambling that even the Major of New York had photos taken of him standing on a barge throwing slot machines into the sea . Ironically , most of these slot machines were actually vending machines , but nobody seemed to care. It was a sad day for the slot machine industry

"Bugsy" Siegel, the famous and notorious gangster was also featured in the history of the slot machine .
He built the famous "Flamingo Hilton" Casino on the Las Vegas Strip and put the slot machines on the casino floor in order to keep the wives and girlfriends occupied while the men were doing the " real "gambling .

In the late 1960s Bally invented the electronic slot machines which were more secure than the old mechanical slots and were much harder to cheat.
In the 1970s companies began using random number generators ( RNG ) and micro chips to determine the spin of the reels.
Pulling the slot handle was no longer required in the 1980s because a button had then been designed to replace the handle. As the microchip advanced, so did slots. By the 1980’s, all the casinos went to microchip-powered slots.
The Slot machine gained popularity across the USA and the rest of the world. Slots are now one of the biggest revenue producers for modern day casinos and make up about 70 % to 80 % of the casinos profits.Slot machines today are no longer mechanical. They are completely electronic and come in a million different varieties, but the basic setup and mechanisation of them all is the same. The software in online slots are the same as a one-armed bandit in Las Vegas. Online slots are the next stage in the evolution in the history of slot machines.

Last Updated 18 July 2014
History of Slots