The history of slot machines starts in the 1800's and brings a lot of stories together. Slot machines first appeared in the late 1800's in San Francisco and where a long way from the machines that we see today. These early slot machines had card numbers instead of the fruit symbols that are common today.

Slot Machine Names List

Slot Machines – Brief History

The history of the slot machines unlike classic casino games and card games as poker is quite short. The predecessors of the slot machines appeared in 1870s.

Charles Fey, “father of the slot machines” invented his first machine in 1894. This first model has stood the test of time and you can see it in the gambling parlors even now. The reels initially depicted cards, later followed by pictures of fruit. The bell rings every time Slotxo you win as it used to be one hundred years ago.

The history of the machines may be divided into three periods.

The first period – mechanical slot machine.

Charles Fey was the king of the period thanks to the invention of three-reel slots. The most popular slot machine of that time was cast-iron Liberty Bell.

Each of the three reels displayed ten symbols. If the player got three identical symbols, he had hit the jackpot. The chance to win a jackpot was one of a thousand. The sum of payments of the invested money in the Fey machines equaled to 50%.

When the gambling was banned, design of the slots was changed. The sums of the prizes were replaced with the pictures of the chewing gum packages, and different tastes were depicted as a respective fruit. The amounts of jackpot was also increasing along with the popularity of the machines. In order to increase jackpots additional reels were built into the machines. The slots got larger and their internal design was constantly changing.

The History Of Slot Machines Jackpot

The second period – electro mechanical slot machine.

The second period of development of the slot machines was rather calm, fell in to the middle of the twentieth century. The brightest event of the period was production of the Big Bertha. However, shortly it was overtopped by even more killing innovation of that time – Super Big Bertha.

Creation of this super slots exceeded USD 150,000. The machine contained a 5 horsepower motor and eight reels with 20 game symbols on each of them. Super Big Bertha was certainly an impressive machine, but unlikely it was not generous in prizes. The sum of payments reached only 80% of the invested money and the chance to win a jackpot was one of 25,6 millions.

1990s: The Online Revolution

WMS Industries Inc. had been hovering around the slot machine industry for a few years, but by the 1990s they had grasped the video slot revolution by the horns.

The History Of Slot Machines Dispense

WMS developed its first video slot with a second screen bonus. Reel 'Em In featured a fishing theme where players were able to trigger a Pick'em style bonus game. It paved the way for second screen bonuses like free spins for years to come.

A speedier and cheaper internet allowed online gambling manufacturers to start developing slots that could be played at home. Microgaming had already been operating an online casino since 1994 but launched Cash Splash in 1998, one of the world's first ever online progressive jackpot slots.

As broadband speeds and operating systems improved, the number of developers grew. Major players like NetEnt, Playtech, and Play'n GO all started up operations in the 1990s and continue to innovate and expand. Online games became slicker and became available to play through both download clients and via web browsers.