Slot Machine Game History

The slot machine was invented by Charles Fey, an American citizen, in the late 1800s. Slot machines have morphed quite a bit in the 20th century, mainly in response to cheaters. Slot machines these days are computerized, and therefore, much harder to cheat. Slot machines have also grown increasingly more complicated to satisfy a more sophisticated public. Machines can now have many different reels and many different symbols. A reel can contain as many as 20 symbols. Slot machines pay out varying amounts of the money that they take in, ranging from the high 70% to 99%. Looser machines, those that pay out 99%, are usually located in the outside ring of the casino, in order to draw people in. Tighter machines are located in the heart of the casinos, and are usually the machines that are played with higher amounts of money. Progressive machines are the tightest of them all, due to the high amounts of money that they pay out. Naturally, the loosest machines would be the ones that pay out the least amount of money. Slot machines are popular because they are very easy to play; a game like poker requires quite a bit of knowledge, whereas in a game of slots, you can just sit down and start pulling the handle. Back to Top