From the Mechanical to the Video Slot

There is a lot more history to the slot machine than many people realise and actually, a lot of the facts are really quite interesting.

Take the bell symbol for instance, where does that originate from? And why have the traditional casinos become less popular in favour of the online casinos? Have slot machines always paid out cash prizes?

With so many questions, it is only right that we have a little dig around into the history of the common slot machine because they are way more interesting than we realise.

So let’s learn more about the original mechanical slot and the modern video slot – play today.

Original Slot Machines

The slots that we know today are very different from the original slot games, though the concept of aiming to win something was the same, this was about as far as the similarity went.

The first style of slot was associated with bars where, yes, a punter would put money into a slot machine, but it was not to win cash in return, it was actually to see if they could win a free drink from the bar.

Slot games of this original type would usually be geared towards horse racing in their aesthetic and any win was not instant.

First Slot Game Advancement

Charles Fey was a respected engineer who saw how the original slot machines worked and knew that he could capture the market by altering their mechanism to encourage more people to play these games.

It was Fey who created the Liberty Bell Slot and it is thanks to him that we still to this day have a bell symbol on many slot games both in casinos and online casinos.

Though Fey created the Liberty Bell Slot to payout coins as prizes, he also created slots that paid out sweets as prizes too.

He did this because he realised that there were certain places where people wanted to participate in slot games but he needed a way of circumnavigating the laws regarding gambling at that time.

He did this by giving sweets as prizes instead of cash and this style of slot became a common sight in barbers and saloons across America.

Video Slot Games

Though Fey created the Liberty Bell Slot and released it in 1907, it was not until 1976 that the video slot hit the market. This was due to the huge popularity of the Liberty Bell.

When the video slot arrived, people were amazed by the huge screen and were drawn in by the colours, sounds and aesthetics on display.

Las Vegas was of course home to the very first video slot which was installed in the Hilton Hotel.

Sadly, it was quickly abused because there were multiple ways in which immoral players found ways to cheat it.

But it was quickly modified so that any visitor could participate in this history-making video slot game.

Little did these players know that just a decade later a whole new style of slot game would grace their presence!