History Of Slots - UK Online Casino

History of Slots

Slot machines play a big part of casino life, they are simple and fun to play and players don’t have the same pressure as when playing games on tables in Casinos.   The history of slots is very clear; it is universally acknowledged that Charles Fey played the vital role in inventing and developing the machines.   Fey was a car mechanic based in San Francisco and it was he who invented and built the first slot machine in the basement of his home in the late 1800’s.  He then went on to rent these machines to local casinos where they became very popular.

The first slot machine was known as the liberty bell, it had symbols on the reels that indicated hearts, spades, diamonds, bells, stars and horseshoes.  To operate the early version of the slot machines, players would have to insert an American coin known as the nickel.  The inserted nickel would then allow the player to pull the handle to operate the reels.  Most of the earlier models of slot machine were played using 3 reels and if a certain combination of image appeared on the reels, the player would win a pre-determined amount of money.

In 1907, the Liberty Bell slot machine was updated with the partnership of Charles Fey and the Mills Novelty Company being formed.  They worked together to introduce the Mills Liberty Bell slot machine.  The design on the slot machine had evolved and it had cast iron casing with feet and toes.  These types of machines were very popular and couldn’t be built quick enough; in fact over 30,000 of these machines were produced.  A few years later, the Operator Bell slot machine was introduced; this differed slightly to the Liberty Bell in that it has fruit symbols on the reels but still retained its cast iron casing.  It was in 1915, that the Mills Novelty company changed its cast iron slot machines in favour of machines with wood cabinets.

As the early types of slot machines were loud, the Mills Novelty Company wanted to try and design a quieter model.  This came about in the 1930’s with the introduction of the Silent Bell; these types of machines were now taking off and were manufactured in higher quantities.  With the Silent Bell, jackpots also increased which enable the player to win more money when playing.

It wasn’t until the 1940’s that slot machines really gained notoriety.  A man by the name of Bugsy Siegel was opening a new hotel called the Flamingo Hilton.  He decided to furnish his casino with slot machines with the specific clientele being wives and girlfriends of celebrities and well respected men at the time.

As players worked out how to manipulate the older versions of slot machines to their favour, the slot machine had to evolve to incorporate the electronic type.  This came about in the 1960’s and revolutionised the slot machine industry.  Electronic machines provide greater security and give the player greater variation in their games and the jackpots available. 

Slot machines have since been enhanced further from the 1960’s and with technological advances; players don’t even have to visit a casino or gaming environment to play slot machines.  Online gaming websites provide players with the facility to play slots from their computer wherever they are.