Slot machines have a rich slots history, becoming both increasingly popular and accessible throughout the years. From the original Poker machines to the endless choices of online casino Slots, there have been many iconic names that’ve played a big part and made an impact on the history of the games, paving the way for many of the unique reels we love to spin in the modern day.
Read on to find out more.
Frank Smith- Slots history
We’ll begin back in 1890, when Chicago based company, The Ideal Toy Company, developed a slot machine based on one of the oldest variants of Poker – Five Card Draw. It was Frank Smith who came up with the invention, which was comprised of five drums and playing cards painted onto each of them. After inserting a coin, you would pull a lever to make the drums spin. If the drums landing on a winning hand, then you could collect a prize at the counter or bar.
Sittman and Pitt
In 1893, New York based company Sittman and Pitt created a machine that worked similarly to the one Smith had invented a few years before. Based on a game of Poker, with five drums and card faces painted on them, this game was recognised as the first coin-operated gaming machine with a lever and pull mechanism. It became so popular than almost every bar in New York played host to the machine.
Charles Fey
Charles Fey is often accredited with the creation of the first modern slot machine, and rightly so, as his invention – The Liberty Bell, paved the way for a new age of Slots. In 1895, in San Francisco, California, the car mechanic took three reels with four sets of symbols: a diamond, spade, heart and a Liberty Bell, to make up the basis of his machine. The highest value combination you could form would be that made up of three of the Liberty Bell symbols, which would award you with an automatic payout of fifty cents.
Raymond Moloney
1932 saw the founding of the Bally Manufacturing Corporation, by Raymond Moloney. The company was known for creating wooden pinball machines, but when Moloney died in 1958, and the company’s name was shortened to Bally, they became known for revolutionising the slot machine. Enter the first electromechanical slot: Honey Money.
Slot machines go electric
Following the popularity of Honey Money, and the invention of the colour television in the 1960s, a company named Fortune Coin Company decided to use a 19-inch Sony TV to create a new slot. The game Fortune Coin could be found in The Hilton Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip from 1976.
Spinning into the future…
As slot games adapted to technology, and technology continued to progress, 1996 saw the first online casino. It didn’t take long for slot games to become available at these online sites, and as demand grew, so did the number and variety of games that were on offer. Technology paved the way for iconic gaming developers like Microgaming and InterCasino to create platforms that could host games, as well as produce new and exciting Slots.
In the modern day, you’ll find lots of casino sites, each with hundreds of games that offer new mechanics and bonus features that show just how far Slots have some since the very first Poker machine. And it’s all thanks to some of these iconic names, games and companies that have, and will continue to shape the world of Slots.