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The First Slots Machine
The slot machine can most definitely be accredited to Mr. Charles Fey, a mechanic who worked on and invented the first true slot machine in his own home garage. The Liberty Bell was invented by Charles Fey in 1895 and consisted of a three small independent spinning drums or reels. When a lever was pulled at the side of the drum, the reels were set in motion. Each of the reels had diamonds, hearts and spade symbols from a pack of cards, interspersed with a cracked liberty bell. Where the reels came to rest determined a win or not. In the case of the Liberty Bell, if 3 liberty bells came to rest in a line, then the machine would pay out 50c which was considered a large sum in those days.
The Commercialization of Slots
Charles Fey rented his slots machine to local bars and leisure centers but never wanted to sell the rights to the machine. He went on to develop and rent out other well known Slots machines, the Draw Power, The Three Spindle and the Klondike. Because of his refusal to sell the rights to his slot machines and ideas, arcade machine manufacturers went on to develop slot machines in their own rights. A well known arcade machine company of that time, called Herbert Mills went on to develop their own Slot machines and used fruit symbols instead of the traditional card symbols. Slot machines became more widely spread and very popular until they were banned in the early 1900's together with the general gambling ban of that era.
Slots Popularity Grows
It was not until the early 1930's when Bugsy Siegel used Slot machines in the entrance to his Flamingo Hilton gambling emporium in Las Vegas that Slots took off again. He used Slots at the entrance to his gambling lounge thinking that the women and companions of the serious gamblers would waste their time there and not bother their men at the tables. He did not realize what a hit Slots would become and his idea of having Slots at the entrances to the gambling lounges is still used today but not thought of as a distraction anymore, but rather a benefit.
Slots Evolve from Mechanical to Computer Microchips
Over the years the original mechanical workings of the Slot machines changed to electrical and finally computer controlled mechanisms. Microchips were used to power the spinning reels together with random number generators. By the 1960's it was very rare to find Slot machines with the original handle to pull the reels, i.e. the one armed bandit. Slot machines became more complex and added more reels and winning lines. Symbols were not restricted just to fruits and cards, all sorts of different shapes and themes were introduced making the games much more interesting and payouts were increased. Video Poker was introduced as a kind of Slot machine where the screen was like a mini television and cards were turned based on the buttons that were pressed. Slot machines had 3 or 5 reels with bonus trails, nudges, wild cards and extra bonus payouts. The Slot machines became a status symbol on their own and gamblers would go to casinos just to play on the Slots and not as sideline anymore.
The Modern Online Slots
By the 1990's Slots had also been adapted to be played over the internet. From the basic 3 reel and 5 reel Slots developed all sorts of variations that could be played anywhere in the world through a casino that sat on the same server. Online Slots became even more popular that the original Liberty Bell and today you can find Slots of any kind and with any form. Online Slots payouts are monitored by outside bodies making it one of the fairest and most exciting games to play online today. From Fey's invention in the back of a garage, a whole world of opportunity has developed, tournaments, mobile Slots, Flash Slots and simple Slots through loyalty clubs are just some of the opportunities that Slots present today.
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