Prepare yourself for a journey that explores the history of slot machines, from the humble beginnings of the 1890s to today’s advanced mobile slots with rich features and endless opportunities.
We will take a closer look at the steps that have had a significant impact on the development of slot machines, stop at each phase, and explain how they changed how we play slots.
Let’s start from the beginning and have a closer look at who invented the first slot machine.
Early Beginnings of Slot Machines (1890s)
People in the late 19th century also enjoyed gambling, often playing games of chance with cards, dice, and numbers, and even betting on sports.
Bars and saloons were familiar places to gamble, while the upper class did it more discreetly in private clubs.
This was also the era when we were first introduced to the origins of slot machines, but when were slot machines invented?
The First Poker Machines by Sittman & Pitt
The first sign of what we today call slot machines came in 1891, when Sittman and Pitt in Brooklyn, New York, released a poker machine that would soon influence the first slot machine.
The ten of spades and the jack of hearts were removed from the 52-card deck, further improving the house edge.
Players would insert a nickel and pull a lever to play this 5-drum poker machine. Players didn’t win money, though, but would collect their winnings in free drinks and cigars. These poker machines became very popular and soon found their way into many bars in New York. A significant part of the history of slot machines.
Charles Fey and the Birth of the Modern Slot (1894–1899)
Indirectly, you are reading this slot machine history page thanks to Charles Fey’s invention in 1898 when he created the Liberty Bell Machine, which is regarded as the first slot machine.
Charley Fey was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria and spent some years in France and England during his early years before moving to the USA when he was 23.
He settled in San Francisco, where he later started his own company together with a business partner, focusing on electrical equipment and telephones.
The Liberty Bell Machine
Gambling was illegal in California, so Charles Fey couldn’t patent his Liberty Bell Machine, which became the most famous slot machine. So many competitors quickly emerged, but this was the slot machine that had a lasting impact and was considered to be the first slot machine invented.
The Liberty Bell Machine was played on 3 reels displaying various symbols, including horseshoes and the Liberty Bell. This slot machine was considered extraordinary and offered automatic payouts.
Fruit Machines, BAR Symbols & the Early UK Influence
The “fruit machine” is the British term for a slot machine, but where do these fruit symbols come from, and what about the BAR symbols, and what do they represent?
It turns out this is all related to the 1902 ban on payout machines.
How Fruit Machines Replaced Cash Prizes
Slot machines underwent a transition when the ban on payout machines went into effect, as prizes shifted towards chewing gum and candy. The symbols used in the traditional slot machine were also changed to fruits such as cherries, lemons, oranges, and plums to match the theme better, as the prizes consisted of chewing gum with fruit flavours.
The Origin of the BAR Symbol
The BAR symbols are synonymous with slot machines, and the reason why they exist in slots and have become so iconic might surprise you.
The Bar symbol originates from the Bell-Fruit Gum Company logo and didn’t represent cash winnings but the company’s gum products.
A lot has happened since those early days, but the BAR symbol and fruit symbols have remained on the slot machines. Some things just stick around, and the Bar symbols are another vital part of the history of slot machines.
Herbert Mills & the Rise of Operator Bell Machines (1907–1916)
Herbert Mills is another prominent figure in slot machine history, making a significant impact on the growth and popularity of slots, turning them from a niche attraction into a mainstream addition to American entertainment.
Mills introduced mass-production techniques that were cheaper, while using better materials and replacing the previously wooden machines, which had shorter lifespans. He also used a national distribution network, combined with clever, aggressive marketing, to make the games popular.
The most commercially successful contribution was the Operator Bell, introduced around 1910.
Mills took advantage of the recently standardised fruit symbols that were made popular by earlier game creators, helping the Operator Bell be seen as more “harmless”, as opposed to a hardcore gambling machine.
The game also ran more smoothly thanks to improved springs and rotary reels, leading to a better overall user experience than previous slot machines.
Mills machines could also be found in common locations, such as grocery stores, hotels, and candy shops, where gambling was illegal, with prizes consisting of mints and gum. They were also part of the earliest slot machines used in Las Vegas in the 1930s.
The First Jackpot Feature
The Mills Novelty Company also introduced the first jackpot feature around 1916, which changed how payouts worked in the history of slot machines.
Instead of offering smaller fixed amounts, it was now possible to trigger a combination that would set off a jackpot, emptying the machine’s entire coin hopper. This would often be a much bigger win than any regular payouts.
The special combination could, for example, be triggered by three bells or other special icons.
Electromechanical Slots: Bally’s Money Honey (1964)
A shift from mechanical to electromechanical occurred between the 1950s and 1970s and was important, as it laid the groundwork for the fully digital types of slots we are familiar with today.
Incorporating electric components instead of relying on gears, springs, and physical reels enabled game developers to create more complex games with more precise reels, larger payouts with multi-line setups, and new features like holds and nudges.
These new slots were also introduced with new concepts based on Random Number Generator (RNG) algorithms, which today are the backbone of how modern online slots function.
Why Money Honey Was a Breakthrough
No other slot machine symbolised this shift better in the history of slots than the iconic Money Honey slot released in 1963 by game studio Bally (today owned by giant Light & Wonder).
The Money Honey slot introduced a hopper-based automatic payout system that could pay up to 500 coins without an attendant, making it the first fully electromechanical slot, unheard of at the time. Now, casinos could introduce larger jackpots, use more symbols, and offer games like Money Honey with more features and variety.
Money Honey also introduced players to the option to spin by pressing a button rather than pulling a lever, although both options were available in this slot.
The First Video Slot Machines (1976–1978)
Another breakthrough in the history of slot machines was the introduction of the first video slot machines in the mid-1970s, which transformed slots from passive pull-and-watch machines into interactive entertainment experiences with more engaging audiovisual effects.
Gone were the limited games with 3-5 reels and simple pay structures, as game developers could now create slots with new reel sizes, more symbols, and combinations. Most importantly, games that could support animations and bonus rounds with player-driven interactions through the modified 19-inch Sony Triniton television displays.
Video Slots Take Over Las Vegas
The new video slots were met with initial scepticism, as players doubted whether the digital games could provide computerised randomness. Still, the truth was that these new slot machines enabled more advanced RNGs, making the games safer and reducing cheating.
The games were first introduced at the Hilton Hotel casino in Las Vegas and later at the Flamingo casino by Fortune Coin Co, which was acquired by International Game Technology (IGT) in 1978. They soon became a hit, as players embraced them, making them the casino’s dominant revenue source.
The Progressive Jackpot Revolution (1986 Onwards)
The 1980s saw the rise of the first progressive jackpots that once again revolutionised the history of slots. Gone were smaller jackpots as now they could reach life-changing amounts, thanks to shared jackpots across many casinos that shared the risk and potential, with a portion of players’ wagers added to the growing jackpots.
Now, even small-stakes players could dream of winning a considerable amount, as huge jackpots could be won through small bets, too. The jackpots also led players to wager more and play for longer. Casinos were, of course, quick to realise the newfound popularity of these jackpot games and gave the games the best positions on the casino floors for maximum exposure.
IGT’s Megabucks & the First Multi-Million Jackpot
A million-dollar win from a jackpot slot machine was unheard of before the introduction of IGT’s Megabucks slot, as they simply didn’t exist.
This would all change in 1986 with the release of Megabucks, which featured a $1 million starting jackpot, the cost of which was shared by all participating casinos and IGT.
The first $1 million jackpot was won the same year, but there isn’t much public information available about the winner. However, casinos were quick to promote the winning amount, making the Megabucks jackpot even more popular.
Another winner made even more headlines as he not only won the Megabucks jackpot once in 1989 for a cool $4.6 million, but also in 2005, Elmer Sherwin repeated the feat and won it again for another $21 million, making him one of the biggest winners and luckiest slot players ever to exist in the history of slot machines.
Bonus Features & Second-Screen Slots (1990s–2000s)
Nowadays, we are so used to modern slot machines and how the bonus feature differs from the base game, but there was a time when this was all new and fresh.
Game studio WMS was among the first slot developers to use this new way of creating slots, and the game Reel ’Em In is considered to be one of the first major hits using a second-screen bonus.
This slot machine introduced a way for slots to feel even more interactive and exciting, as the bonus game appeared on a new screen that looked and functioned differently from the main game.
Second-screen bonuses made slots more volatile as players accepted that the main game didn’t pay much, as the bonus game could be the part that sometimes delivered in the game and was worth waiting for.
The wait for the bonus made players play for longer, and this, combined with players’ acceptance of casinos lowering RTPs, led to higher profits for casinos.
The Rise of Online Slots (1994–2010)
With the introduction of the internet and its wider adoption and access, combined with players now accustomed to playing video slots in land-based casinos, the timing was perfect for introducing the gambling industry to the first online slots in the mid-1990s.
Players might have been slightly sceptical at first, as the whole concept of the Internet was new and performing transactions online was a new phenomenon, but all this would change very quickly.
Microgaming and the First Online Casinos
One of the first companies to jump aboard the online casino industry was Microgaming (today part of Games Global, which also released the first online progressive jackpot slot machine, Cash Splash.
The first online casinos faced technological challenges and measures that could prevent players from gambling online, including the need to download software to play slots. There were also only a few casino games on offer at the beginning, of poor quality when compared with today’s standards.
It’s easy to forget how primitive everything looked online in the mid-1990s, but things were once again about to change soon.
Mobile Slots & the Smartphone Revolution (2005–Today)
Do you remember when mobile phones were the size of bricks and could make phone calls and send text messages? Remember the early Nokia phones and the game Snake?
Playing slot machines on mobile devices the way we do today felt like utopia and science fiction, but we take it for granted now that playing online slots on smartphones is the most popular way to play.
We saw the potential of mobile gambling with the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007, although some earlier versions were available. It didn’t really take off until around 2012, when some online casinos, such as LeoVegas, launched with a mobile-first approach.
Why Mobile Slots Became the Most Popular Format
Smartphones are nowadays the one device that most of us bring with us wherever we go, and an essential part of slot machine history. So it’s also natural that playing mobile slots on this device has become the most popular, as we do pretty much everything on our mobiles today.
We can play mobile slots from anywhere and at any time, so the convenience has contributed to its success, and payments are no longer a hindrance either, as we do most transactions on our phones.
All slot machines are today also created with a mobile-first focus and designed mainly for smaller devices, but are responsive so you can play them on any preferred size or device.
Megaways™ & Modern Slot Mechanics (2016–Today)
Big Time Gaming’s Megaways engine is considered the biggest disruptor in the online casino slots era, changing how we play online slots.
Instead of a fixed number of pay lines or ways to win, the number of ways varies from one spin to the next and can usually reach up to 117,649 ways to win, sometimes even more.
Other popular game mechanics include Scatter Pays and Cluster Pays slots.
Nolimit City is another game studio that has introduced new ways to play online slots, with provocative and innovative themes and unique features such as xSplit, xWays and xNudge.
Technology Behind Today’s Slots: RNG, RTP & UK Regulation
You need a United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) license to be able to offer online slots legally to UK players. This applies to all UK online casinos and game studios, as without a UKGC license, you would be targeting UK customers illegally.
UKGC sets the rules for how online slots and casinos operate in the UK market, including applying restrictions to protect players without being overly restrictive and driving players to illegal options.
RNG and Fair Outcomes
UKGC also ensures that all slots are appropriately tested and approved by third-party agencies before being offered to UK customers. This includes ensuring that Random Number Generator (RNG) algorithms function as intended, producing results that are genuinely random and fair.
RTP in Modern Slots
Modern online slots are always released in various Return To Player (RTP) versions. For example, Big Bass Splash is available in three payout versions: 94.06%, 95.67%, or 96.71%.
Online casinos can choose to offer their players whichever of these options, and most opt for the 94.60% version as this increases their profits. However, here at CasinoWizard.com, we exclusively guide players towards high RTP casinos where you play on the best-paying version. You can compare the RTPs by visiting our slot reviews.
Modern Trends: Daily Jackpots, Missions & Tournaments
So, what are the latest trends in slot machines, as progress never stops?
Players’ behaviour changes, and today our attention spans are shorter. We can partly blame social media and shorts on YouTube for that, but it’s clear that it’s affecting us all in one way or another.
Slot developers need to take this into account when creating slots, as players have shorter game sessions and want to see outcomes faster. Either you lose your deposit fast or win big, hence why highly volatile slots are so popular today, as players are prepared to take more risk for faster results.
We have also seen an increase in daily jackpots, missions, and slot tournaments.
The daily jackpots keep the sessions exciting, as you know that this jackpot will be won by someone today. The missions add an extra layer of fun to your overall sessions as you collect things while playing and can get additional bonuses or spins while doing so. The tournaments add the social aspect while playing slots, as more people want to play “together” with other players than keep it a solo experience.
The Future of Slot Machines
Innovation never stops, and slot machines will continue to evolve. There will come a time when we look back at how we play slots now and see it as something from the past.
We have seen attempts to create VR slots, but since that experience wasn’t better than playing without the extra device, it never took off. It also didn’t help that VR hadn’t become mainstream yet.
The introduction of AI is currently affecting everything. If we believe Elon Musk and similar figures, few of us will need to work while we instead enjoy our universal salary. Will that give us more time to play slots instead?
It remains to be seen what will become real, but AI is already part of the development process for slot creators. It’s no stretch to guess that AI will make our slot experiences more personal, as it can quickly detect what we enjoy and give us more of it. Similar to the algorithm feeds when we scroll our Facebooks, Instagrams, and TikToks.
Key Takeaways
We have come a long way when exploring the history of slot machines from the early poker machines by Sittman & Pitt that some regard as the oldest slot machine to the first slot machine, Liberty Bell, and later fruit machines, to electromechanical slots, to video slots and jackpots, and to where we are today, with online slots and mobile devices as the main platforms where we enjoy our slots.
Similar to how Sittman & Pitt would have been taken aback if they had been given a chance to compare the original slot machine with our current mobile online slot games, we may not be able to comprehend what slots will look like in 15-30 years’ time, as everything progresses so fast today.
The one thing we can be sure of is that slots are here to stay in one form or another and that innovation never stops.