สล็อต machines have been the most popular game at casinos for decades now. Their simple nature and fun visuals continue to draw people in from all over the globe. But where did it all begin?
In the beginning:
At first, สล็อต game machines were single-player recreations of the game poker. The first สล็อต machine was invented by Sittman and Pitt in Brooklyn, New York. Their machine contained 5 drums in which 50 cards from a playing deck were placed.
All a player had to do was insert a nickel and pull the lever. The drums would turn and display an arrangement of cards. If the card arrangement that the drums landed on were a good poker hand, the player won a prize. The biggest prize was given out for a royal flush.
However, this was a very subjective way of playing with thousands of possible winning combinations. Therefore, the prizes were not standardized and depended on and differed from bar to bar. Smaller wins often meant free refills on beer whereas larger ones meant more expensive drinks or cigars.
The Liberty Bell:
In 1885, Charles Fey came up with the Liberty Bell machine which is often considered the first สล็อต machine. It was a much more simplified version of the Sittman and Pitt machine with only 3 drums and limited symbols.
The symbols included a spade, a heart, a diamond, a horseshoe and the Liberty Bell from which it gets its name. Reading wins on this machine was infinitely less complex and it would’ve allowed for standardized prizes across the city.
But Charles Fey took it one step further and introduced an automatic payout system. When the machine landed on a winning combination, it automatically dispensed money. The biggest payout was 50 cents for landing on three Liberty Bells.
This meant that the machine required even less supervision than before and it grew very popular both among bar owners and bar patrons. Soon, there was nary a bar in the city without a Liberty Bell machine.
So much so, that Charles Fey could not keep up with the demand and copycat manufacturers soon popped up. The first few kept Fey’s symbols and design but soon, variation could be seen. A new version with patriotic symbols such as the American flag and wreaths popped up.
Another eclectic version offered gum as payouts and to match the fruit flavoured gum, the symbols of the สล็อต game were also changed to fruits. This machine proved immensely popular.
Modern Day สล็อต Machines
Although some machines exhibited electromechanical qualities as early as the 1940s, the first real electronic สล็อต machine was developed in 1963 by Bally. It was known as Money Honey. This machine made the iconic lever vestigial but many designers choose to keep it for psychological and aesthetical reasons.
The first video สล็อต machine was developed in 1967 by Kearny Mesa. This is the modern สล็อต machine that we are all familiar with. สล็อต machines have had a long and rich history and we hope this article gave you some insight into it!
