Love online slots? But ever wonder how it all started? Grab a coffee and get comfy. 

So, even though online “slots” don’t actually have a coin slot, they still keep the name, and in the UK they are still referred to as “fruit machines” and in Australia as “pokies” – keeping their long heritage alive and well. 

Mechanical Affairs In 19th Century New York Bars

Okay, to find the very first “slot machine” we need to journey back to Victorian New York, where the locally-based company Sittman and Pitt created a purely mechanical machine featuring 5 drums and 50 playing cards – yes, actual playing cards. It could be found at the less salubrious bars across the rapidly growing city, costing a nickel to play. However, being a 100% mechanical device, it was possible for patient players to identify patterns and work out effective strategies for winning. Needless to say, they weren’t welcome at the bars. 

To address this rather pressing issue, the manufacturers tinkered with the machine to give the house a bigger edge – namely by removing the jack of hearts and ten of spades, which reduced the odds of getting a royal flush by 50%. All things considered, these machines were really more of a kind of poker machine than today’s slot games, but they were where it all began. 

Gaming With An American Icon: The Liberty Bell

Indeed, slot machines really came of age courtesy of an American inventor named Charles Augustus Fey. Sometime between 1887 and 1895, Fey constructed the first automatic slot machine. Unlike the Sittman and Pitt devices, Fey’s investigation uses only three reels, considerably simplifying things. In fact, it replaced the pack of playing cards with just five symbols – symbols that are still with us today, namely the hearts, diamonds, spades, horseshoes and liberty bell (named after the iconic symbol of American independence located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). 

In fact, Fey’s machine was actually named The Liberty Bell, after that iconic symbol – which also formed the highest payout combination. Of course, in the spirit of enterprise, other manufacturers soon came out with their own versions of the machine, and because Fey hadn’t patented his invention, he lost a potential fortune. But, from our point of view, the competition it kicked off was crucial – with companies striving to innovate and outdo each other. 

Mill’s Sweet Solution To A Real-money Ban 

But, boom! Just like that, the entire evolution of the slot machine nearly came to a grinding halt, when in 1902 machines paying out cash were banned across the United States at the federal level. 

Though that could have been the end of the humble slot machine, a certain Herbert Mills, from Chicago, saved the day using candy. Yep. While machines paying out money were illegal, there was no law against sweet winnings, and in 1907 he set up his factory to produce the “Operator Bell” machine, which paid winnings in candy instead of hard cash. Mill’s machine is why we have the BAR symbol on slots today. The symbol was a reference to the Bell-Fruit company logo, which supplied chewing gum prizes for the machines. 

Within a few years, Operator Bell slots machines were installed all over the Windy City, at tobacconists, salons, bowling alleys, and crucially, at the gas stations which were popping up everywhere as car ownership exploded. 

The Swinging 60’s: Time For Money Honey Baby, Yeah!

Despite this progress, the slot machines of early 20th century America were still very different in many ways from the even the land-based slots found in casinos today – the games from which every online slot evolved. In fact, the next truly major breakthrough regarding slots would have to wait until the 1960s. 

In 1964, ‘Money Honey’ was launched, and changed everything. Until that point all slots had been 100% mechanical contraptions. This meant that, given enough patience and brains, it was theoretically possible to predict outcomes. In practice, it was almost impossible, but the key thing was that people believed it to be possible. However, Money Honey introduced electromechanical technology to the field, instantly raising the level of sophistication. 

Despite the technological advances, the manufacturer opted to retain the traditional side handle – from which slots derived their “one armed bandits” moniker. This helped smooth the transition for players, and let them retain their sense of personal, physical control – and, critically, it helped perpetuate the feeling that players could exercise some degree of direct influence over the results. Again, within a few years, the innovations that Money Honey trailblazer were commonplace in the casino of Las Vegas and beyond. 

From The Space Race To The Internet

Less than ten years after Money Honey’s launch, at the height of the Cold War and the Space Race, Las Vegas-based manufacturer Fortune Coin debuted its Fortune Coin machine at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel. Equipped with a “huge” 19 inch Sony television set, it coincided almost exactly with the birth of the video game industry. Indeed, Fortune Coin was so revolutionary and inspired so many people that just a couple of years later, international gambling tech giant IGT acquired the manufacturer, and proceeded to invest in the machine’s development. In 1986 this resulted in Megabucks – the world’s very first progressive slot machine. But, although there was continual innovation, the pace of change was somewhat lethargic, until the mid 1990s. 

In 1994, when the internet was just starting to become widely known in the western countries, and dial-up modems were started to be installed widely in schools, colleges and large businesses, the tiny Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda became the world’s first jurisdiction to formally legalise online slots. Two years later, in 1996, InterCasino became the world’s very first online casino. In the same year, WMS Industries Inc. released “Reel’Em”, the first video slot with a second screen bonus round. The scene was now set for the rise of the video slot and online casino we know and love today – which evolved rapidly as personal computers and internet access proliferated. 

So, next time you’re enjoying a session at your favourite online casino, pay a thought to the pioneers like Sittman and Pitt, Charles Augustus Fey, and Herbert Mills. 

Staying with online gambling history, in early February 2021, Intertops marked the 25th anniversary of accepting the world’s first online sports wager.