When did the first slot machines appear? Slot machines wiki

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, three-dimensional graphics, a huge number of additional functions (free spins, special Wild, Scatter, Bonus symbols, multipliers, risky rounds). Conventionally, all games can be divided into two large groups: classic slot machines and modern video slots.

Structure of classic slots

Three reels and one payline. Symbols - sevens, bar inscriptions, cherries. The settings are minimal: select the bet denomination. 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 draws, free spins, Wild, Scatter, Bonus symbols and other options are available.

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

Slot machine versions

Manufacturers produce slots in several versions:

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

Video slot variance

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 love quick wins and dynamics. Examples: Blood Suckers, Attraction, Diamond Dogs.
Average. There is a balance between winning and losing spins, and the winnings are 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 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 proposed payout ratios is presented in the Info and PayTable sections.

Player Actions– select 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 appearance from left to right or simply proximity on the reels is taken into account.

Additional options that increase the likelihood of winning include free spins, special symbols, risky games, bonus rounds, and respins.

Slot machine selection criteria

You can choose a slot machine based on subjective parameters (theme, manufacturer, graphics quality, presence of a jackpot).

If a player intends to bet 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 optimal game.

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

You should only play licensed slots from well-known manufacturers (NetEnt, Microgaming, Yggdrasil Gaming);
Choose slot machines with a high RTP level – from 95%;
Take into account 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 website contains articles with reviews of slot machines. They are created by a team of experienced expert authors who pre-test the slots.

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

Site users can leave comments and rate the slot. As part of the site rules, reviews are not moderated and are published while maintaining 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 main criteria for choosing slot machines. And thanks to user reviews, you can reinforce your own opinion about a particular game.

Types of slot machines

Practice is divided into the following types

Mechanical slots

Video slots

The current level of development of electronics makes it possible to produce an almost unlimited number of new varieties of slot machines. As a rule, they are equipped with five parallel disks, on the rim of which various images are applied. These are virtual reels spinning on a video monitor screen. Such machines have from 1 to 40 or more lines (rarely - up to 100). Winning lines, payouts occur on combinations on all lines. Certain combinations of numbers bring winnings to the player. Slot machines differ from each other in terms of playing conditions - the opportunity to further increase the amount won; bonus systems, jackpots, and the design of cases and gaming programs - the number of symbols and pictures that replaced the traditional “cherries” is incalculable.

Video poker

Columns

First generation: machine with a coin acceptor that functions as a button

Others

Principle of operation

Slot machines are one of the most profitable methods of doing business. The owner earns from the so-called. “percentage of return”, i.e. The system administrator sets in advance the percentage of funds invested in the machine by the player that is returned to the players in the form of winnings. This percentage varies between 80 and 95, but on average it is 85-92. Most machines do not allow you to bet a percentage less than 80, because... the manufacturer believes that in this case maintaining the machine will be unprofitable. It is completely wrong to assume that if a slot machine with a return percentage of 80 “eats” 100 rubles, then it should immediately give back the 80 rubles due to the player. A winning combination appears just as randomly as a losing one, so the machine can “eat” 1 or 10 thousand rubles and not give anything back, but the next moment, give back 80% (for an arbitrary period) allotted to the player. In any case, if we take the statistics of the machine for a more or less long period (1 week/1 month), it will still turn out that the machine gave the player no more than 80% of the funds invested in it. The player can only win if he lands on random recoil moment 80 percent of random amounts. When the player starts the game, symbols appear on the screen randomly, using a generator pseudo random numbers, naturally observing the conditions of the established “return percentage” - if certain conditions are met, then the combination on the screen will be winning. Thus, all the images on the screen, or doubling the winnings (red/black, big/small) are by and large unimportant - after the reels start, the player will absolutely not be able to influence the course of the game, no matter what button the player presses, even before the reels stop already “knows” in advance whether to show a winning combination or not. Colorful images of the game's heroes, the ability to select any symbols, doubling the winnings, sound, the design of the machine itself - all this is only needed for the psychological aspect of the game - the player seems to be playing some kind of quest, he feels his involvement with the heroes of the game, it is imposed on him the idea that it is he who controls them, but this is all false - the processor of the machine, even before the first second, already “knows” what to do, and only then gives the command to the graphics card to light up this or that picture on the screen.

There are several options for generator operation

Virtual offset: another random number is added to a random number (in the range 0-1) defining the reel sector, 1 is subtracted if necessary, and the new position is shown accordingly
Infinite offset: the coprocessor calculates the entire operating time, while producing only the result generated when betting
From winning: A random number determines the winning and type (credits and additional games), and then the machine “draws” a combination for it.

History of gambling business in Russia

First stage

Second phase

A powerful impetus to the development of the gaming hall industry was given by the Federal Law “On Tax on the Gambling Business” adopted in 2017, which established a system of imputed taxation. With the adoption of this law, business gained the opportunity to develop openly.

Third stage

With the entry into force of part two of the Tax Code, the tax rate on income (winnings) was established at 35%, and the practice extended to the amount of money taken by the player. However, the practice was quickly challenged and the rule was canceled earlier.

A real boom in the development of slot machines occurred in the year when the Russian Government refused to license the gambling business by regions of the Russian Federation and the procedure for obtaining a license was simplified as much as possible.

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, gaming machines belong to the category “Measuring equipment” with the corresponding requirements for metrological control.

Fourth stage

After the explosion at the Rizhskaya station (at that time there was a gaming room in two pavilions)

Notes

Links

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At one time, 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 himself sets the pace of the game, no special skills are required from the players , and absolutely everything depends solely on luck and old lady Fortune.

Interestingly, the American term “slot machine” was originally used to refer to both trading and gaming machines (slot is a slot for accepting coins). Both slot machines and vending machines had identical slots. But later, the term “slot machine” was assigned specifically to those machines that, in exchange for a coin, did not provide goods, but provided the opportunity to play some kind of game. But progress does not stand still. Now you don’t need any coins, and slot machines that 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 an American of German origin, Charles Faye (1862-1944), created his first slot machine in his auto repair shop, which ran on 5-cent coins. The maximum winnings of the first slot machine were 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 rural teacher from Bavaria.
A passion for mechanics was discovered in the boy at the age of 14, when he became a worker at a factory producing farm equipment. Bavarian youths often ended up in the German army, and to avoid this fate, fifteen-year-old Augustus 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. Working odd jobs, he walked all over France and reached the shores of Foggy Albion. After five years of working as a mechanic in shipyards in London, Fey saved enough money to go to America. Then he did not even suspect that he would become famous as the inventor of slot machines. He stayed in France 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 five-cent coins were common: this is where Fey’s idea 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 for a short time as a mechanic. Soon the young man was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and doctors predicted imminent death, but the disease was extinguished. At 25 August went back to work. Having married a Californian, Augustus took a new American name (Charles) and completely adopted the American way of life.

In the late 1890s, games began to appear that were very similar to modern slot machines. These were machines with reels on which cards were depicted or a machine with a huge wheel on which many colors were applied. The point of all the games was to guess the card or color that would appear after spinning the reels or wheel.

In the 1890s, C. Fey worked together with Theodor Holtz and Gustav Schultz, one of the most famous manufacturers of slot machines at that time. In 1893, Schultz created HORSESHOES, the first 1-reel machine with a cash counter and cash payout. In 1894, C. Fey 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. The first poker machines with “falling cards” and cards located on 5 reels were created here.

The first slot machine, created in 1894, had 3 wheels and was very similar to the slot machine of Gustav Schulz, a famous manufacturer and operator of slots, that appeared a year earlier. After leaving his previous job, Charles founded his own company, which initially produced parts and spare parts for Schulz slots.

A year later, the second version of the slot, performed by Fey, appeared - a machine called “4-11-44” was reminiscent of the popular Police lottery. 4-11-44, a popular lottery combination, was the top winning ($5.00) combination on the Fairy slot with three concentric digital buzzers.

The success of this device was so significant that it allowed Fey to open his own factory for the production of similar devices already in 1896. When in 1898 a decree was issued on the legalization of machines that pay out winnings in cash, C. Fey is trying to build a poker machine with a counter and 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, which were exchanged for cigars and drinks. In 1898, C. Fey managed to solve this problem, although the poker turned out to be somewhat “truncated” - on 3 reels. The machine was called CARD BELL - the name “bell machine” became a common name for all machines with three reels for many decades.

In 1899, Charles Fey slightly changed his brainchild. Now the latter began to be dominated by the very popular at that time patriotic symbol Liberty Bell - the “freedom bell”, which adorned the top panel of the machine.
“Liberty Bell” is a slot that consists of three reels, on which are marked: a horseshoe, a star, spades, diamonds, hearts and a bell. Only one line of symbols 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 appears. The winnings table will determine the winning amount if a paid combination occurs.

At the bottom there was a winning table, according to which the maximum “boot” - 20 dimes (or tokens) - was paid when a combination of three bells fell out.

Several slot machines designed by Fey were installed in drinking establishments in San Francisco. Along with the first “one-armed bandits,” the first gamblers immediately appeared.

"... One of these avid gamblers was a young Indian businessman who came to Tokyo on business. While having breakfast in a small cafe, he noticed in the corner four slot machines operating from one lever. The inquisitive Indian could not resist the temptation to try his luck: he dropped into each of machines each coin and pulled the lever. The winnings were eight coins. Thus began an unprecedented gaming marathon, which lasted six days with four three-hour breaks for food and sleep. During this time, he pulled the lever 70,000 times, winning a total of $ 1,500, which again spent on the game, adding another hundred dollars from his own money. Although at times the machines paid him significant 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, after losing twenty dollars, he received less than ten back.
At the end of the six-day madness, the Indian returned to his homeland and convinced the management of his company to invest funds from the export of spices, fruits and medicines into the import of American slot machines. An unusual commercial operation brought the company enormous profits and resounding success..."

The success of the inventor and his apparatus haunted envious people, so in 1905 a rather strange robbery took place in one of the salons on Powell Street in San Francisco. Only two items were stolen - a bartender's apron and a Liberty Bell slot machine. As it turned out later, he was kidnapped by his competitors - the Novelty company, which sent the “bandit” straight to its Chicago factory. Using the stolen machine gun as a model, the company released its own model in 1906 - the Mills Liberty Bell. And soon, thanks to the fact that Charles Fey's factory was almost completely destroyed during a strong earthquake in San Francisco in 1906, the kidnapping company managed to gain a leading position in the market for mechanical gambling. And this happened in just a few years.

Since the early days of their existence, gaming devices have had to constantly defend their “right to life.” Numerous local and federal decrees and laws banning 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 was formed when spinning the reels. New symbols were applied to the machine's discs - plums, oranges, lemons, mint, cherries, corresponding to the most popular flavors of chewing gum, as well as images of packaging labels (BAR). Now the maximum win was paid out when receiving a combination of three labels, and the traditional bell moved to second line in the winnings table. Such machines began to be called fruit-machines. The fruit trick increased sales (the machines began to be installed in stores, public places, etc. - where cards were not allowed).

Since then, these pictures have been present on the reels of modern slot machines practically 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 a loss, three oranges mean a win of 10 coins, and three BARs mean a “Jackpot”.

Despite the fact that slot machines were banned in California, Fi 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 winning payout system - coins were poured into a special tray. Until 1966, winnings were paid by the owners of the establishments in which the machines were located.

Charlie August's mechanical slot machine was used for over 60 years.