|
Slots History
Ever since they were first invented, slot
machines have been popular because of their
handsome payouts and because they allow you to
play at your own pace. Their popularity spread
throughout the United States in the 1930s, and
in the late 1940s slot machines appeared at the
Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas. Their invention,
however, dates back to the 19th century.
Prototypes of mechanical slot machines existed
in the 1870s, but the first proper slot machine
was built in 1895 in a San Francisco basement.
Credit for the invention of the three-reel slot
machine is typically given to Charles August Fey
(1862-1944), a German inventor and entrepreneur
who moved to the United States in 1885. Fey's
first commercial model, the Liberty Bell, was
placed at different locations in San Francisco
and did so well that Fey walked away from his
electrical supply company and concentrated on
perfecting and manufacturing slot machines
instead. In 1896 Fey opened a slot machine
factory that was subsequently destroyed in the
great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906.
In 1901 Fey designed and manufactured the
first mechanical poker slot machine, the
precursor of today's electronic poker games.
Charles Fey truly deserves the credit of being
the father of the slot machine.
To play a slot machine:
1 Click on the bill slot on the front of the
machine. You will be asked to enter how many
credits you want to put into the machine. Click
OK when done.
2 Bet the amount you want for the current spin
by clicking Bet One, Bet Max, or Play Max.
3 Spin the reels by clicking the arm, clicking
the Spin button, pressing S on the keyboard, or
choosing Spin from the Actions menu.
If you win, you accumulate credits. You can then
bet your credits (instead of inserting more
coins) for the next spin. You can bet from one
coin up to the maximum number of coins available
by clicking the Bet One or Bet Max buttons.
To collect your credits, click Cash Out. Your
bankroll will be automatically credited.
Going for a Jackpot
Each reel has at least one jackpot symbol, and
to win a jackpot you must get each reel to stop
on this jackpot symbol. For a 20 stop,
three-reel machine with one jackpot symbol per
reel, the odds of lining up all three jackpot
symbols are 20 x 20 x 20, or 8000 to 1. Some
machines have more than one jackpot symbol per
reel, which improves the odds of hitting a
jackpot, but the payout for a jackpot on these
machines will usually be lower.
|
Slots
