History of Online Slots

The very first slot machine was created over a hundred years ago in 1887 by a man known as Charles Fey who lived in San Francisco of all places. It is possible that Fey was a vehicle mechanic although it is currently unclear.

The first slot machine created by Fey consisted of 3 reels (Now you know where that idea came from!) each consisting of numerous pictures including many that were then and even now very familiar when it came ot gambling. A horse shoe, spades, diamonds, hearts and a Liberty Bell like the one on the dollar coins at that time.

It cost 1 nickel to play the game once and by getting all “bells” in a row, the player would win 8 nickels back. As demand picked up, Fey was unable to provide enough machines and many were copied to be able to supply them to barbers, bars and brothels with the original still being in great shape today somewhere in Nevada.

In 1891 a company by the name of Sittman and Pitt, who were based in New York created a 5 reel slot machine by using metal drums with cards on and the game was based around poker. Although there was no mechanism to be able to pay a player should he or she have won, beer or cigars were usually offered as prizes should the players be in luck. Obbviously these proved as popular as ever.

As time moved on into the 60´s so did slot machines and in particular those in Las Vegas, Capital of the gambling World. A company known as Bally Technologies created an electronic slot machine that was known as Money Honey which provided the platform for other companies to create their own form of slot machines that were able to pay out more coins, pay out without the use of an attendant, and even create the illusion that the slot was paying out due to the skill of the player.

From metal boxes, slot machines moved toward tv screens with players being able to watch the games on a screen rather than chunks of metal clattering down into formation. These were known as video slots, and whilst not as popular these days, still remain one of the biggest pullers of money where machines are concerned, in particular “video poker”.

Slot machines now have moved on in such way that they remain one of the most popular destinations when one visits a casino, off or online. The principles of Rey´s machine still remain excatly the same with the 3 reel and now 5 reel online slots being the most popular.

The first online slot machine came with online casinos on the internet and have been based on films, television shows and even cartoons to attract different types of audiences. Jacpots have gotten to the stage where a jackpot win means a life changing amount of money rather than just enough to perhaps buy another beer and with computers being what they are, more win lines have been added meaning a player may have more chance at winning as they are not only playing on the middle line.