The History of Slot Machines: The One-Armed Bandit
Slot machines have been one of the main centerpieces of live casinos since live casinos existed! However, though every casino visitor has likely taken a slot machine for at least one spin, few know the history of these popular games.
The first slot machine was invented in 1985 by Charles Fey, a car mechanic. Fey’s machine was called the Liberty Bell and consisted of three spinning wheels with four simple symbols—diamonds, spades, hearts and a cracked Liberty Bell. When a player spun three Liberty Bells in a row they received the biggest payout, which totaled 50 cents. 50 cents was pretty substantial at the time, though not as large as the million dollar jackpots won today! If you are a history buff you can see the original Liberty Bell slot machine today at the Liberty Belle Saloon in Reno, Nevada.
Aside from the Liberty Bell, Fey invented a number of other slot machines including the Klondike and the Three Spinde. He would rent his machines out to saloons and bars around San Francisco and split the profits 50/50. His machines took off almost instantly and the demand for slot machines grew. Fey could not build his slot machines fast enough, but refused to sell the rights to his Liberty Bell machine. Therefore, a Chicago-based manufacturer of arcade games names Herbert Mills began to manufacture a slot machine of his own. Mills’ machine was a Liberty Bell knock-off called the Operator Bell. He also started to manufacture the first fruit slots.
When slot machines were first introduced to the world they were known by many gamblers as the “One-Armed Bandit”. Players would pull on the machine’s single arm and wait to find out if they had won or if they had lost their wager.
As the years have passed slot machines have only grown in popularity and more and more gaming companies have begun to manufacture them. The classic slots were simple 3-reel machines. Today there are 4-reel, 5-reel and even 7-reel slots. Today’s machines include bonus rounds and multi-pay lines and huge payouts and progressive jackpots. The advent of computers has also led to video slots – computerized slot machines without the reels, as well as online slot machines. These machines and computer software are programmed with random number generation software to ensure fairness.
Slots machines have come a long way since Charles Fey invented the Liberty Bell. However, despite all the fancy new machines with lots of reels and big payouts you can still find the classic Liberty Bell and fruit slots online as well as in live casinos around the globe.