A Short History of the One Armed Bandit

For decades, the game of one armed bandits has been leaving players and gamblers penniless, even though they have been changing their methods and appearance for years. Invented by Charles Fey, who was a German immigrant, the first slot machine was seen in the 1890s. Fey was a mechanic who lived in San Francisco, and designed the slot machine. Graphics were all incorporated from normal playing cards such as jacks, queens and kings, along with spades, hearts and others.

The Liberty Bell

The first slot machine had three reels and was called the Liberty Bell. If the player got 3 matching symbols, it would result in a payout, and 3 liberty bells would result in hitting the final and big jackpot. The Liberty Bell slots became quite famous quickly and similar to it, various bell-themed slot machines started appearing all over the country. You could see them at cigar stores, saloons, and even in brothels.

You can still take a nostalgic tour and view the very first Liberty Bell slot machine in Reno, Nevada at a place called the Liberty Bell Restaurant and Saloon. The fun that people got out of these slot machines was soon ruined by gambling prohibitions and other rules. In order to work around the ban, proprietors prevented the ban from happening by replacing the betting symbols with gums and fruits.

BAR is the most common symbol today

The logo of the Bell Fruit Gum Company is now the common symbol on all the slots today, and in some regions these machines are also referred to as fruit machines. Since these machines didn’t suggest any gambling, they were allowed to be placed anywhere. Fruit slot machines dispensed candy and not money, even though the rules of the game were still the same. Real money winnings weren’t banned for long.

Bally, the 1st company to start production of slot machines

The 1960s saw the production of the original slot machines by a company called Bally, but due to the machines’ bulky size casinos took time to accept them. In the 1970s, the machines were modified to incorporate more symbols, more reel and bigger bets so that the players could bet more and end up winning less. In 1980s, slot machines saw the inclusion of number generators, which became extremely popular over the years and still continue to be quite famous.