The exciting world full of lights and sound started in America. Let’s digg deeper in the invention of slot machines. We have them in many different types and design, but what’s the story behind those machines. The first slot machines had little in common with the slots you find in casinos today. However, the idea behind it remains the same: the player has to make a winning combination of the symbols in the machine in order to get paid.
Playing poker is fun, but , it was probably thought, that dealing he cards manually could be done better. And so in 1880 there came slot machines, based on poker, in which you had to throw coins. The machine had 5 rows with 50 cards. The player had to throw in a coin, pull the lever and wait for the cards to appear. They were very popular in the bars in New York.
Liberty Bell
Mechanic Charles Fey is seen as the real inventor of the slot machines. Born in Germany, he moved via London to San Francisco where he invented his first slot machine in 1894: a one-armed bandit. A second one followed a year later. These machines contained 3 rotating elements and were operated by means of a lever. In a short period of time these machines became very popular and that was the reason for Charles Fey to keep developing them all his life. Four years after his first machine followed the first one with an automatic payout system: the famous ‘Liberty Bell’. All future slots were based on this machine with 3 spinning reels and 5 symbols. When the player had 3 ‘Liberty Bells’, he would get the biggest reward, the jackpot.
Money Honey
In 1912, the ‘Fruit Machines’ made their appearance with, yes, fruit as both an image and a reward. Whoever won got a packet of chewing gum in the taste of his symbols. This was a way to prevent the machines from falling under the anti-gaming laws that applied in many American states. The years 1919 to 1930 are known as the ‘Golden Age of Slots’. Despite many laws and other ways of trying to ban slot machines, the slot machines ‘survived’ this and they were changed and improved even more. The first electromechanical slot machine was developed in 1964 and was called Money Honey.
Nowadays players have an infinite variety of slot machines to choose from. They differ in the number of winning combinations, bonuses and symbols. Most machines have a theme but some still use the classic symbols. Both the machines with reels and regular images are doing well as the video machines where fun animations and a bonus game are possible.
Slots are by far the most popular game in any casino, including ours. At VIAGE you will find no less than 404 slot machines, a large part of the Novomatic Group, one of the largest international companies of slot machines. Our machines are maintained by DR Gaming Technology™, a Belgian company with the mantra: “The player first”, a quote that we fully support!
