The History of Slots

Beginning way back at the tail end of the nineteenth century and still ever changing, the history of the game now known as "slots" is a fascinating one. The advent of online slots is yet another crucial event in the roller coaster ride slots have taken to become one of Americas' favorite forms of gambling entertainment. The technology for slots was first developed in the east, but a young entrepreneur by the name of Charles Fay is credited for having developed and inventing the slot machine as we know it today.

Fay began inventing and manufacturing slot machines in 1894 in San Francisco where he worked in the electrical manufacturing business. Surprisingly the original slot machines had not a single cherry image so typically found on the modern day slot machines; the machine invented by Fay used playing card images. The slot invented by Fay is known as the "liberty bell". The Liberty Bell had three reels with various symbols, a coin tray at the bottom, a handle on the right hand side, and a payboard. It was sturdily made of sheet metal on a brass frame. The machine was so advanced that it would be instantly recognizable to a modern slot player.

The popularity of the slot machine game was instantaneous, and by 1909 there were 3200 licensed slots spread throughout San Francisco. However by April of that year slots were effectively banned in California, and the slot machine business went underground. The manufacturers of slots were forced to look elsewhere for the slot market. They found it in Newark, Chicago and Detroit. The roaring twenties brought new life into the slot machine business, and once again the industry boomed, spreading throughout America.

As the great depression reared its ugly head, "reform" politicians renewed their fight against slots, beginning in New York and California, until state by state, slots were once again banned. The industry took a turn for the worse, and by the time World War Two came around, the little used Slot machines were used for scrap. By 1953 Nevada was the only state where slots were legal. However in that one state through the popularity of the newly built adult Disney land, there was a fresh market for slots and gambling. With the development of Las Vegas the demand for slot machines started to soar once again. The number of slots in Nevada alone went from a mere 16,000 in 1960 to over 200,000 today. Add another 100,000 in other states and the growth of slots in the last forty years has been nothing short of phenomenal. By the 90's and continuing till today, the popular game accounts for two thirds of Casino Revenue.