Slot machines are the world’s number-One casino game in both land-based casinos and the world’s greatest internet casinos. Slot machines powered by computers and filled with vibrant images are extremely powerful entertainment, and their popularity can be seen by their ranking in the top five mobile gaming categories. Amazingly, slot machines have always had the potential to be addictive.
Slot machine history spans a lengthy period of Time from the First “Iron Cases,” as slot machines were first called, through to today’s high-tech computerized, multi-mega jackpot slot machines. Like all areas of growth and expansion, slot machine history has had its share of oddities and curiosities. Let us take a look at the top five strange Facts about slot machines.
Although Charles Fey of San Francisco is generally given credit for creating the First modern slot machine in 1895, the "4-11-44," he was not the First to create a slot machine that paid out in coins. For more than a decade before Fey created the "4-11-44," there existed "nickel-in-the-slot" machines. Nickel-in-the-slot machines were hybrids of vending machines and gambling machines. The original nickel-in-the-slot machines were a combination of vending machines, that had been invented in the 1880s and gambling machines. The original nickel-in-the-slot machines displayed cards and poker hand symbols.
Players received merchandise such as drinks or cigars after inserting a nickel. Although the original nickel-in-the-slot machines were hybrid vending/gambling machines, there needed to be someone present to physically pay out the merchandise. Vending machines were referred to as slot machines, and gambling machines were referred to as Iron Cases. Until the First ten years of the twenty-First century, vending machines and gambling machines continued to be referred to as slot machines.
Charles Fey is often credited with developing the First true gambling slot machine, as opposed to vending slot machines. Fey’s slot machine awarded prizes in the form of coins instead of merchandise. As you might expect, local authorities disapproved of these new gambling slot machines. By 1909, San Francisco passed legislation banning all three thousand-plus slot machines in the city; all had to be destroyed.
People missed their slot machines. To satisfy this need, the Novelty Company produced a line of slot machines that also dispensed chewing gum. Reels on these slot machines featured fruit symbols that signified gum flavorings. Bars on the reel signified sticks of gum. Keep that in mind whenever you hit five cherries on a slot machine. . . . About a century ago, you’d be able to chew on some cherry-flavored gum!
Early mechanical slot machines were quite easily cheated by simply placing a stick inside the machine and then jiggling it until it stopped where you desired. "One armed bandit" was initially coined to describe these cheating gamblers. Most proper folks disapproved of slots — and there were many — and used terms like "swindling machines" and "nickle eaters" to describe them. "One armed bandit" had a little more bite to it, however, so eventually they started calling the machine itself an "One armed bandit", and it has stayed that way ever since. If you’ve heard anywhere else that Charles Fey was the First to call his machines "One armed bandits", then you’re wrong, and it would probably be the worst branding decision in marketing history.
As we see from the history of slots, innovators found numerous methods to stay one step ahead of anti-gambling legislation. As much as law-abiding townspeople wanted to eradicate slot machines completely, players loved playing on slot machines, so innovators came up with new ways to service their customers legally and profitably. A great illustration of this is that for several years slot machines were also vending machines.
Once you inserted a nickel into the vending/slot machine, you received a pack of gum and a spin of the reels. When anti-gambling officials became aware of this scheme, vending/slot machine manufacturers modified their products to award payouts on the next nickel inserted into the machine. Since you didn’t receive a payout on your original nickel you weren’t really gambling on your original nickel. You also hadn’t gambled on your second nickel because you had already won. Lawmakers recognized this tactic, and quickly closed this loophole.
When slot jackpots were introduced in 1916 everything changed about slot machines. Instead of receiving coins for every spin, now players could win all of the coins available in the machine (usually fifty cents.) the world will never be the same again. Progress was made toward bigger slots jackpots with progressive jackpots in 1986 when linked machines were developed to give away mega-million-dollar progressive jackpots. Progressive jackpots gave players the opportunity to retire for life with a single pull of a lever. With odds of winning progressive jackpots approximately 3.2 million to one, it would seem impossible for one individual to win two of these large jackpots. You would be correct. Statistically speaking it is virtually impossible. The odds against hitting a progressive jackpot are approximately 10 trillion to one. Yet although it is statistically impossible, it isn’t impossible.
Elmer Sherman, a World War II veteran, defied the odds and won not only one progressive jackpot but two mega-jackpot winnings. Sherman’s First progressive jackpot win occurred in 1989 at the Mirage for $4.9 million. He wasn’t finished yet. At the age of ninety-one in 2005, he achieved his ultimate goal of being the First man to win two progressive jackpots in one lifetime when he won a staggering $21.1 million at the Cannery. Mr. Sherman proved that while statistical improbability exists, achieving success in two progressive jackpots is achievable for some individuals.
Now that you have learned about these five peculiar aspects regarding slots machines why don’t you test your luck playing at one of the world’s greatest online casinos?
Charles Fey, a brilliant mind from San Francisco, is responsible for building the First slot machine, the “4-11-44” in 1895. His creation was a culmination of previous models known as “nickel-in-the-slot” that have been in use since the 1880s. These previous models were inventions combining vending and gambling features, with users being rewarded merchandise (drinks and cigars), instead of coins.
Fruit and bar symbols on slot machines are not randomly placed; they represent an ingenious method for vendors to evade anti-gambling regulations. As mentioned previously, during the early 1900s the Novelty Company began producing slot machines dispensing gum that evaded anti-gambling regulations. Fruit symbols illustrated various gum flavorings; bars indicated sticks of gum. This inventive technique enabled vendors to sell gambling-style equipment under the disguise of vending-machine style equipment.
“One-armed bandit” originally defined players attempting to cheat at slot machines utilizing sticks to manipulate reels. Eventually, the term referred to slot machines themselves indicating public disdain for people viewing them as dishonest or swindling devices.
Prior to establishing strict anti-gambling laws, some slot machines worked as vending-machine-type equipment providing rewards in addition to spinning reels (i.e., packs of gum). Later, these types of vending-machine style equipment were altered to provide payouts based upon subsequent coin insertions into the machine, thus technically preventing definitions of gambling for that particular insertion.
Elmer Sherman, World War II veteran, defied all odds when he accomplished something believed unachievable - he won not only one progressive jackpot but two mega-jackpot wins! His initial progressive jackpot win was achieved in 1989 at the Mirage casino for four-point-nine million dollars! He obviously wasn't satisfied with only one big win and therefore set himself a goal prior to retiring to become the First person to win two progressive jackpots within One lifetime! That goal was fulfilled when he achieved a staggering twenty-one point One million dollars at the Cannery casino in 2005 at the age of ninety-one!
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