Slots and pokies are some of the oldest gambling games in today’s 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 first ever version of the slot machine game was observed in 1891. Pittman and Sachs created a machine with five drums, each showing poker hand symbols. When players would win at these games, the machine would not pay out; rather, the bar housing them would provide players with drinks.
It would be four more years before Charles Fey would create the version of the slot machine game with which we have been most acquainted today. The machine provided players with cash payouts when it revealed matching symbols. The popularity of these games caught on very quickly, until anti-gambling groups enacted a ban on slots in the early 20th century.
Pragmatic Slot lasted a few years, and it wasn’t long 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 new trend and made a decision to manufacture its own brand of electronic gaming machines called pokies. The company’s first machine was called the ‘Clubman’.
Although it would be quite a while before we’d see online slots, casinos in NEVADA started making electronic slot machines, moving away from the typical, mechanical slot games that had become popular through the years. These machines were better than mechanical slots and managed to get more difficult for folks 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 until the turn of the Century that we begin seeing the advent of online slots. The initial online slots games were seen around 2001, once the first internet casinos went live. Companies like Microgaming got on the floor floor, creating some of the first online slot machines available to the public.
For the past ten years, 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 online world, players can find hundreds of different online slots games, many of which feature fun and inventive themes. Players can also find a wide range of branded and themed slots games, featuring innovative gaming technology.