Origins of Slots
An early precursor of the slot machine was a mechanical poker device invented in New York by a company named Pitt and Sittman. The machine had five drums that contained visual representations of poker cards, and after pressing a lever the cards changed their position in a random manner. After they came to a halt, the player had to analyze if a winning combination was unlocked.
This machine didn't have a payout mechanism implemented yet, therefore, winnings were paid out in the form of free drinks and cigars. The game while being based on poker was actually a slot machine taking in consideration the modern definition of the game, because it was not possible to discard or keep cards like in video poker.
But the first modern slot machine was created by American inventor Charles Fey who also created the first liberty bell symbol that became very popular later on. The machine remained largely unnoticed the next years, until it was introduced in the Flamingo Hilton hotel in Las Vegas.
Fey's slot machine contained the symbols of a star, horseshoes, diamonds and spades, but it lacked the typical fruit symbol popular in todays' slot games. A special symbol was the Liberty Bell that paid out a 50 cent bonus, money that was quite substantial in those days. Later Fey expanded his idea and added a fruit symbol to the machine that became hugely popular.
The history of slots involves also the infamous American organized crime boss "Bugsy" Siegel who heavily invested in slot machines to provide entertainment for the wives and girlfriends of the rich people who attended his casino. Siegel didn't believe the game would become so popular, but it turned out to be a major attraction of the casino.
Modern Slot Machines
The first electric slot machines were designed in the '70ies by a company named Fortune Coin. The electronic version of the game became increasingly popular, because it was more reliable and couldn't be cheated that easily anymore, like its predecessor.
This was also the time when slot machines embraced several different themes, reel and line numbers and much more. Even though the classic fruit and Liberty Bell style slots games were still the most popular, new ones began to emerge quickly.
In the '80ies slot machines became even more sophisticated since they started to use microchips and random number generators. Cheating the game became impossible, and so even more casinos started to adopt them.
The next step was the video slot machine, that instead of using mechanical reels it contained a display for the visual representation of the game. The results were calculated using advanced computer technology and sophisticated random number generators. After the invention of video slots, it was just a question of time until online slots games would be invented, as well.
Online Slots
The final stage in slot history are online slots, which were first created in the early '90ies, when regular slot games were already hugely popular. Early day online casinos quickly adopted this game which soon became a major source of income for them, but also a source of great entertainment and fabulous winnings for the players.
From that moment on players weren't required anymore to visit real casinos, but instead were able to play slot games right from their homes. Online slot casinos offer many special promotions to people in order to determine them to sign up, also something that is different from a real casino slots.
Nowadays there are several hundred online casinos on the web offering a huge variety of slot games. Slot use the latest encryption and data protection technologies that make them highly secure and reliable. Slots are a great source of entertainment, be it online of offline, therefore, we can conclude that the game will evolve even more during the next years and decades.