Slots and pokies are some of the oldest gambling games in the modern world. They saw their beginnings in the beginning of the 20th century, and also have attracted a vast audience since. Here is a synopsis of slot machine history and how they will have developed over the years.
The initial ever version of the slot machine was observed in 1891. Pittman and Sachs created a machine with five drums, each showing poker hand symbols. When slot88 would win at these games, the machine would not pay out; rather, the bar housing them would provide players with drinks.
It will be four more years before Charles Fey would create the version of the slot machine game with which we are most acquainted today. The device provided players with cash payouts when it revealed matching symbols. The popularity of the games caught on rapidly, until anti-gambling groups enacted a ban on slot machines in the early 20th century.
The ban only lasted a couple of years, and it wasn’t a long time before slots became popular again in casinos. It was during the 1950s that slot machines started to become popular around the world. In 1953, Australian gaming company Aristocrat took note of the brand new trend and made a decision to manufacture its own brand of electronic gaming machines called pokies. The business’s first machine was called the ‘Clubman’.
Although it would be quite some time before we’d see online slots, casinos in Las Vegas started making electronic slots, moving away from the typical, mechanical slot games that had recognition over time. These machines were more secure than mechanical slots and managed to get more difficult for individuals to cheat casinos. During this time, electronic slots also saw the invention of the random number generator which made playing slots even more unpredictable.
On the next few decades, slots would remain the same. It wouldn’t be before turn of the Century that people begin seeing the advent of online slots. The first online slots games were seen around 2001, when the first internet casinos went live. Companies like Microgaming got on the ground floor, creating some of the first online slot machines open to the public.
For the past a decade, slots have become many of the most popular games at online casinos, as well as making up over 80% of land-based casino revenue. In the internet, players can find a huge selection of different online slots games, a lot of which feature fun and inventive themes. Players are also able to find a wide variety of branded and themed slots games, featuring innovative gaming technology.