How did slot machines originate? Slot machine - Slot machine The history of modern slots

Since the introduction of the first Liberty Bell slot machine in 1897, gambling has undergone many changes. Three-reel versions with one payline have turned into interactive themed games with animated characters, 3D graphics, a huge number of additional features (free spins, special Wild symbols, Scatter, Bonus, multipliers, risky rounds). Conventionally, all games can be divided into two large groups: classic slot machines and modern video slots.

The structure of classic slots

Three reels and one pay line. Symbols - sevens, inscriptions bar, cherries. The settings are minimal: choose the value of the bet. There are no additional options.

Structure of modern games

5-9 reels, three or more paylines. Some models have 200 or more winning combinations. Prize drawings, free spins, Wild, Scatter, Bonus symbols and other options are available.

In online casinos, slot machines are grouped by manufacturer, theme, jackpot, release date.

Versions of slot machines

Manufacturers produce slots in several versions:

online– for playing on the site (including the version adapted for mobile devices)
offline- for land-based casinos.

Video slot dispersion

Dispersion, or volatility, is an indicator of the ratio of bets made and rewards received in a particular machine. There are three levels of dispersion:

Low. Each spin gives a win, but most often its size is less than the bet. Low dispersion slots are suitable for players who like quick wins and dynamics. Examples: Blood Suckers, Attraction, Diamond Dogs.
Average. There is a balance between winning and losing spins, the amount of winnings is average. Medium dispersion slots are the largest group. Examples: Aloha Cluster Pays, Boom Brothers, Dragon Island.
High. A winning combination is formed extremely rarely, but it gives a generous reward that covers all bets. High dispersion slots are chosen by patient players who have enough free time and money. Examples: Beach, Cosmic Fortune, Fruit Case.

Understanding the significance of this indicator will help you choose a slot that will give either small wins with each spin, or higher ones, but a little less often, or huge ones, but extremely rarely.

Basic rules for playing slots

Player Goal- collect a combination of identical symbols on the reels. Information about the rules, bonus options, symbols and combinations with offered payout ratios is presented in the Info and PayTable sections.

Player actions– choose the number of lines, place bets and activate the reels. You can start the game in Auto mode.

Winning combinations– several identical symbols on the active line. Their position can be determined by a clear framework: for example, the loss from left to right or just the proximity on the reels is taken into account.

Among the additional options that increase the chance of winning are free spins, special symbols, risk games, bonus rounds, respins.

Criteria for choosing a slot machine

You can choose a slot machine according to subjective parameters (theme, manufacturer, graphics quality, jackpot availability).

If a player intends to bet on real money and win, it is worth considering the following characteristics:

Betting range;
Dispersion level;
theoretical return.

These are the main criteria that will help you choose the best game.

There are no strategies that could help you beat slot machines. But there are certain rules that will increase the chances of winning:

It is worth playing only in licensed slots from well-known manufacturers (NetEnt, Microgaming, Yggdrasil Gaming);
Choose slots with a high RTP level - from 95%;
Consider slot variance;
Do not refuse bonus bets;
Keep in mind that the betting system does not affect the probability of winning;
Train in free versions.

Slot Reviews

Our site contains articles with reviews of slot machines. They are created by a team of experienced authors-experts who pre-test the slots.

Each article contains a general description of the slot, its basic and special symbols, bonus games, jackpot, interface. In conclusion, all the advantages and disadvantages of the machine are listed, as well as a list of reputable online sites where you can play for free and for money.

Site users can leave comments and rate the slot. As part of the rules of the site, reviews are not moderated and are published with the preservation of the style, punctuation and spelling of the author.

Conclusion

The site contains the best games from leading manufacturers: Microgaming, Playtech, Igrosoft, NetEnt, Yggdrasil Gaming and others. The thematic and functional variety of slots, difficulty levels and technical parameters will allow each user to choose a game for themselves.

Expert advice will help you understand the basic rules and the main criteria for choosing slots. And thanks to user reviews, you can reinforce your own opinion about a particular game.

Nowadays, slot machines can be seen not only in special establishments, but also on the Internet. The concept of “slot machine simulators” is becoming popular (as, for example, here kazino-club-vulkan.com/simulyatori-igrovyh-avtomatov). But not everyone knows where and how the first slot machines originated.

Slot machines are American in origin. Their history began in 1887. The first mechanical automaton was nicknamed "the bell of liberty". He received this name from the auto mechanic Charles Fay, and concurrently, the inventor of this miracle - the machine. He assembled them by hand in his garage and rented them out for money. At that time, he, unfortunately, could not legalize his unique invention, due to the strictest ban on slot machines in America. Over time, he will open a whole factory for their production.

In fact, the machine was three-reeled and had symbols such as hearts, spades, diamonds, horseshoes and a bell. In order to play, it was necessary to have a small change, which was inserted into a special hole. If a person won at the machine (the maximum winning amount was 50 cents), then the money won was paid out by the owner of the gambling establishment, since the machine did not have a payment mechanism. Soon such a "machine" was nicknamed the "one-armed bandit" because of the player's quick loss. In states where there was a complete ban on gaming slots, they began to be combined with machines for the sale of sweets and chewing gum, respectively, the winnings were compensated by sweets, which is where the “fruit symbolism” of modern gaming slots came from.

In 1891, the first poker slot appeared, in which playing cards appeared on the reels. Throwing a coin, the player watched the spinning drum, on which combinations fell out and if one of them turned out to be winning, he received money for it. Then this poker machine became a harbinger of the current poker machines. Gambling specialists believed that slot machines are a rather profitable business. They began to ask Fi to sell them a license for the manufacture of machine guns, but he refused their offer. And already in 1907, Chicago businessman Herbert Stifer Bell launched the production of “twins” of the “Liberty Bells”. In 1910, the slot machines became very famous and were in great demand among the players.

A little later, machines began to appear throughout Europe. The Novelty company simply stole one machine gun from Fi. And in Las Vegas, the first slot machine was seen in 1949 in the famous Flamingo Hilton hotel and was originally intended to entertain the ladies accompanying the players, but soon the slots themselves fell in love with the players themselves and became the main game.

Over time, the machines improved and improved. In 1964, an electromechanical slot appeared, then it struck everyone with its lighting design and electric motors. 1975 - The appearance of a slot machine with a TV screen, through which players could see the game.

Now slot machines all over the world enjoy overwhelming success. Slots located in the casino bring millions of dollars in income to such establishments. Well, as you know, in order to win, you need to have money, and, of course, good luck.

The first slot machines were very different from today's slot machines. Only the idea of the game itself remained unchanged - to win, the player needs to collect a winning combination of symbols. The simple rules of the game and the exciting process itself have made slot machines one of the most popular casino entertainments.

Poker slot machines

The first game devices using coins were invented in 1880. These slot machines were based on the poker card game, had five reels and fifty playing cards. The player lowered a coin into the machine, pulled the handle and watched the rotation of the reels. The system of "payments" was non-standard: in case of victory, the player approached the bartender and took a mug of beer or a cigar as a prize.

One-armed bandits

The next stage in the development of slot machines is one-armed bandits. These are the inventions of Charles Fey, the "father of slots". The story goes that Fey invented the first slot machine in 1894. The second slot, invented in 1895, was called 4-11-44. These slot machines became known as "one-armed bandits" because of the lever to start the reels.

Liberty Bell

Already in 1898, Fey invented the first slot machine with an automatic payout system - the Liberty Bell. When three Liberty Bell symbols landed, the player received a jackpot of 10 nickels. The novelty was so popular that even after the ban on slot machines, Fey had many orders for their production.

fruit machines

The next step in the history of slots was the invention of "fruit" machines. The card symbols on the reels have been replaced with fruit patterns: cherries, oranges, watermelons, apples and bar symbols. At first, the payouts on such machines were fruit-flavored chewing gums. This was done not only for fun, but also to avoid the anti-gambling laws that were introduced in many states.

Electromechanical slots

The first electromechanical slot machine was invented in 1964 and was called Money Honey. Thanks to advanced electromechanical technology, the slot paid out winnings automatically and could accept up to 500 coins without technical support.

And in 1996, the first video slot appeared, which had a Reel "Em bonus game on the second screen.

History of modern slots

Today, players have a wide variety of slot machines that they can play in both classic and online casinos. Slot machines can have a different number of reels and paylines, bonuses and symbols. Most of the slots are themed, but some still use the classic symbols. Among slot machines, the most common are: classic 3-reel, 5-reel video slots, progressive, bonus, etc.

Online slots

The history of online slots dates back to 1994, when the state of Antigua and Barbuda signed the Caribbean Free Trade Agreement. This document allowed companies from all over the world to legally open online casinos. In 1995, the first online casino Gaming Club was opened.

In order to protect and support online players, the famous Kahnawake Gambling Commission (Canada) was founded in 1996. Many players preferred to play on the Internet, but in 1996 the United States passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which banned online gambling. Nevertheless, according to statistics, now about 70% of the income of any online casino is brought by slot machines.

At one time, slot machines (slot machines) very quickly gained recognition in gaming centers and casinos around the world, because, unlike the same table games, in slot machines the player sets the pace of the game himself, no special skills are required from the players , and absolutely everything depends solely on luck and old Fortuna.

Interestingly, the original American term "slot machine" was used to refer to both vending and slot machines (a slot is a slot for accepting coins). Both gaming and vending machines (vending) had identical slots. But later, the term “slot machine” was assigned to those machines that, in exchange for a coin, did not provide goods, but made it possible to play any game. But progress does not stand still. Now you don’t need any coins, and slot machines - which you can play for free all day long, are available to all of us on the Internet.

The history of slot machines dates back to 1884-88. (according to various sources) when the German-American Charles Fay (1862-1944) created his first slot machine in his auto repair shop, which worked from 5-cent coins. The maximum win of the first slot machine was 10 coins of 5 cents - only half a dollar.

August Charles Fey (1862-1944) was the sixteenth and last child in the family of a village teacher from Bavaria.
A passion for mechanics was discovered in a boy at the age of 14, when he joined a factory for the production of farm equipment. Bavarian youths often fell into the German army and, in order to avoid this fate, the fifteen-year-old August decided to go to New Jersey.

At the age of 15, he left his parents' house, taking with him only a small bundle of provisions and a woolen blanket. Surviving by odd jobs, he walked all over France and reached the shores of foggy Albion. In five years working as a mechanic in shipyards in London, Fey saved up enough money to go to America. Then he did not even suspect that he would become famous as the inventor of slot machines. In France, he stayed to earn money and cross the English Channel, and lived in London for another 5 years before he came to America, to New York. However, the cold northeastern winters drove the young traveler to California.

In America at that time, various vending machines with slots for nickels were common: here the idea of Fey was born. In 1885, Charles Fey arrived in San Francisco. Various gaming devices that flooded the saloons and cigar shops of San Francisco could not help but attract the attention of a talented mechanic. In San Francisco, August worked briefly as a mechanic. Soon, the young man was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and the doctors predicted an early death, but the disease was extinguished. On August 25 he went back to work. Marrying a Californian, August took on a new American name (Charles) and completely adopted the American way of life.

In the late 1890s, games began to appear that are very similar to modern slot machines. These were machines with drums that had cards on them, or a machine with a huge wheel on which many colors were applied. The meaning of all games was to guess the card or color that will fall out after spinning the reels or the wheel.

In the 1890s, C. Fey worked with Theodor Holtz and Gustav Schultz, one of the most famous manufacturers of slot machines at that time. In 1893, Schulz created the HORSESHOES, the first 1-reel machine with a cash win counter and cash payout. In 1894 C. Fei built a similar apparatus, and in 1895 he created his own "4-11-44".

The success of this machine allowed the inventor to open his own factory in 1896 and devote himself entirely to the development of new devices. Here the first poker machines with "falling cards" and cards located on 5 reels were created.

The first machine, created in 1894, had 3 wheels and was very similar to the machine of Gustav Schulz, a well-known manufacturer and operator of slots, that appeared a year earlier. Leaving his previous job, Charles founded his own company, which at first was engaged in the production of parts and spare parts for Schultz slots.

A year later, the second version of the slot performed by Fey appeared - a machine called "4-11-44" resembled the popular "Policy" lottery. 4-11-44 - a popular combination of this lottery - became the highest winning ($5.00) combination of the Fairy slot with three concentric digital buzzers.

The success of this device was so significant that already in 1896 Fey allowed him to open his own factory for the production of such devices. When in 1898 the decree on the legalization of machines with the payment of winnings in cash was issued, C. Fey tried to build a poker machine with a counter and the payment of cash winnings. The main difficulty was recognizing the cards on the reels and making it possible to accept and pay out winnings both in coins and in special “trade checks” tokens that were exchanged for cigars and drinks. In 1898, C. Fei managed to solve this problem, although poker turned out to be somewhat “truncated” - on 3 reels. The machine was called CARD BELL - the name "bell machine" for many decades has become a household name for all machines with three reels.

In 1899, Charles Fey changed his brainchild somewhat. Now the latter was dominated by the very popular at that time patriotic symbol of Liberty Bell - the “bell of freedom”, which adorned the top panel of the machine.
Liberty Bell is a slot that consists of three reels, which are marked with: a horseshoe, a star, spades, diamonds, worms and a bell. Only one line of characters was visible on the display. To place a bet, you need to insert a token or coin into a special slot. To start the game, you need to pull the lever. The reels will start spinning. After the reels stop, a combination of symbols drops out. According to the table of winnings, the amount of winnings will be determined if a paid combination has fallen out.

At the bottom there is a table of winnings, according to which the maximum "production" - 20 dimes (or tokens) - was paid out when a combination of three bells fell out.

Several Fey-designed slot machines have been installed in drinking establishments in San Francisco. Along with the first "one-armed bandits", the first gamblers immediately appeared.

"... One of these avid players was a young Indian businessman who came to Tokyo on business. Having breakfast in a small cafe, he noticed four slot machines in the corner, powered by one lever. The inquisitive Indian could not resist the temptation to try his luck: he lowered into each of coin machine and pulled the lever. The winnings amounted to eight coins. Thus began an unparalleled gambling marathon that lasted six days with four three-hour breaks for food and sleep. During this time, he pulled the lever 70,000 times, won a total of $ 1,500, which again spent on the game, adding another hundred dollars from his own money to them.Although at times the machines paid him considerable sums, there was no case (except for the first attempt) when the winnings exceeded the bet by more than one and a half times.For example, by lowering twenty dollars, he received back less than ten.
At the end of the six-day madness, the Indian returned to his homeland and convinced the management of his company to invest money from the export of spices, fruits and medicines into the import of American slot machines. An unusual commercial operation brought the company huge profits and resounding success ... "

The success of the inventor and his apparatus did not give rest to envious people, so in 1905 a rather strange robbery took place in one of the salons on Powell Street in San Francisco. Only two things were stolen - a bartender's apron and a Liberty Bell slot machine. As it turned out later, he was kidnapped by competitors - the Novelty company, which sent the "bandit" straight to its Chicago factory. Using the stolen machine as a model, the company in 1906 released its own model - Mills Liberty Bell. And soon, thanks to the fact that the factory of Charles Fey was almost completely destroyed during the strong earthquake in San Francisco in 1906, the hijacking company managed to gain a leading position in the market of gambling mechanical means. And it happened in just a few years.

From the early days of its existence, gaming machines have had to constantly defend their "right to life." Numerous local and federal decrees and laws to ban slot machines were issued in the United States every year. As a result, machine owners had to resort to all sorts of tricks. For example, "Liberty Bell” , thanks to the addition of a special device, turned into a chewing gum vending machine.

But, in addition, the buyer, by pulling a special handle, could win a prize if a winning combination formed during the rotation of the reels. New symbols - plums, oranges, lemons, mint, cherries - corresponding to the most popular flavors of chewing gum, as well as images of packaging labels (BAR) were applied to the vending machine disks. Now the maximum win was paid out when a combination of three labels was received, and the traditional bell (bell) moved to the second line in the payout table. Such machines began to be called fruit-machines. The fruit trick increased sales (automatic machines were placed in shops, public places, etc. - where cards were not allowed).

Since then, these pictures have been present on the reels of modern slot machines almost unchanged. Only the bright label turned into a simple rectangle with the inscription BAR. Over the decades, these symbols have become a kind of international language - players all over the world know that a lemon means losing, three oranges - winning 10 coins, and three BARs - "Jackpot".

Despite the fact that slot machines were banned in California, Fai continued to produce them illegally, for which he was arrested and fined.

And Slot Machines were gaining more and more momentum - even the Great Depression did not affect their popularity!

The first electric slot machine "Jackpot Bell", in which the wheel mechanism was driven by an electric motor, was developed by Jennings in 1930. In 1966, the Bally company introduced a machine equipped with an automatic payout system - coins were poured into a special tray. Until 1966, the owners of the establishments in which the machines were located paid the winnings.

Charlie August's mechanical slot machine has been in use for over 60 years.

Machines are an incredibly popular form of gambling today. Despite the fact that they have a relatively short history, they have managed to catch the fancy of users. On the Internet resource http://sloty-for-fun.com/ you will find a large selection of slot machines. They are not only distinguished by their variety, but they can also take you to a new amazing world of gambling.

About slots

The history of gambling is quite interesting and ancient. It is not known exactly when they appeared, but their traces are already found among the ancient Greeks, Romans and Chinese. Gambling is constantly evolving, finding more and more new forms. According to many gaming, the most interesting and exciting types of gambling is the slot machine.

Slot machines first appeared at the beginning of the last century. At the beginning of their journey, they were not very popular, and casinos did not want to buy them. This was due to the fact that the stakes on them were very small. In those days, only rich people came to the casino, and for them to make small bets was a sign of bad taste. But for the common population, small bets on slot machines have become a real discovery. Even if not immediately, but more and more ordinary workers began to come to the casino. We can say that slot machines have made a kind of revolution in the field of gambling. For the first time since antiquity, the common people could gamble on par with the rich.

With the advent of the Internet, online casinos began to actively appear. Today there are more than 700 of them. Initially, they were not very popular in the CIS. This was due to the fact that not every home had a computer, the Internet, and the smartphone had not yet been invented at all. Over time, such benefits increasingly began to appear in every home and today are not a luxury item. Slot machines on the Internet today are even more popular than real ones. This is due to the fact that there are much more of them in online casinos and they are brighter and more interesting. In addition, in such an institution you can play for money and for free, and a special smartphone application allows you to play at any time and place convenient for you.

Thus, an online casino has a large number of advantages over a real establishment and even other types of entertainment. With their help, you can not only increase your wealth, but also have fun.