Slot Machines History

Enterprising American, Charles Fey, began inventing and manufacturing Slot Machines in 1894 from his workshop in San Francisco. Fey pioneered many innovations of coin operated gaming devices, including the original three reels, bell slot machine in 1898.

This "Liberty Bell" is considered to be the forerunner of all modern American Slot Machines as its basic design continues to be used in mechanical gaming devices today. The simple mechanical devices with three old-style reels holding 20 symbols have evolved into microprocessor-controlled devices with up to five spinning reels holding hundreds of symbols.

It was during the 1930's that Slot Machines began to proliferate across America, and in the late 40's Bugsy Siegel added machines to his Flamingo Hilton hotel in Las Vegas. Originally installed as a way to entertain the wives and girlfriends of high rollers, revenue from the Slot Machines soon began supplanting that of the table games. In the mid 1980's the popularity of Slot Machines and table games were on par with each other, but by the 90's slots had taken over and now account for over two-thirds of casino revenue in the US.

Slot Machines gained their universal appeal in casinos because unlike the other games, they are played at the pace of the player and don't require the player to have any skill. Commonly referred to as one-armed bandits, the goal of the game is to spin the reels so that the symbols on all reels line up on the pay line in a winning combination. When this occurs, the Slot Machine pays out according to the payoff table posted on its front. The payoff table tells players what the winning combinations of symbols are for that machine and what each combination pays based on the number of coins put in for the spin. Players have a much greater chance of hitting any of the lower-paying combinations.