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History of Slots

Slots Machines were invented in the year 1895 by an American, Charles Fey. His slots were manufactured in his workshop located in San Francisco. The first slots had three spinning reels. It had diamonds, hearts, and spades. Fey began, using many different designs of gaming devices that use coins - this includes the first three-reel; it was made in the year 1898, and the three-reels was a bell-type slot machine.

Slots were known as "one-armed bandits", and "fruit machines" in Britian. The terminology "slot machine" was used for automatic vending machines, as well as for gambling purposes. By the 20th century the name slot machine was classified only as a gambling device.

The precursor of the slot machine of modern America is the "Liberty Bell". The design of the current mechanical devices were copied, or based on, "The Liberty Bell". The evolution of the mechanical devices started from the simple three old-style reels, that contain 20 symbols, have now become five reels and containing hundreds of symbols; these are microprocessor-controlled slots.

The growth in popuularity of slot machines in America started to place in the 1930s. Las Vegas' "Flamingo Hotel", founded by Bugsy Siegel, installed the first slot machines in Vegas, in the late 1940s. The purpose of the slot machine in The Flamingo Hotel were to entertain the companions of the high rollers - wives and girlfriends. Soon after that, slot machines became the highest earning attraction in casinos.

By the '80s, slot machines and table games had pulled even in popularity and both earned high profit. Not until the '90s were slots proven to be on the top of the gamers list. It has surpassed other casino games and now, today, two-thirds of the profits in casinos come from slots.

To win in slots, the player must spin the reels to get a winning combination. The winning combination will be shown on the "pay line". The prize varies accordingly; every machine has a payoff table, so that players will know what they can get. The payoff will also show the players what combination has a winning streak going, and how many coins will be needed to play slots. Lower-paying combinations have a high percentage that the player most likely will hit.

Most players in casinos have preferred to play slots over other games, because to play slots, gamers don't need any skill. Newcomers to the casino prefer to try their luck on slots first, over any of the table games.