Fruit Machines and One Arm Bandits - 120 Years of Gambling History
Gambling has been around for as long and history has been recorded. There have always been games of chance and the concept of "luck" is not limited to any one culture or peoples. There is record of dice being made as long ago as 3,600 BC. The dice we used today are pretty much the same design as those made about 4,000 years ago. (2,000BC). It is recorded that the Roman emperor Claudius was playing dice and a favourable throw was involved when he took the final decision to re-invade Britain.
Gambling was brought to the US and much of it was based on packs of playing cards and dice. There are many Western movies which feature a card game, more often than not a game of Poker. There is a particularly amusing movie called "Big Deal in Dodge City" which totally revolved around a poker game, but there are many more.
A famous Marshal, 'Wild Bill Hickok' was shot in the back of the head because he sat down with his back to the door for a poker game in a town with the ominous name of Deadwood in what is now South Dakota. His hand of 2 black aces and 2 black 8s is known as a Dead-man's hand.
In 1891 in New York the first actual slot machine was invented. It resembled 3 drums that spun when made to and a manual payout was made to the player if the right numbers came up. The next development was the "Liberty Bell" which was heavy being made out of cast iron but it became popular as it was seen to be more reliable than the first slot machines. Slots History developed from then on.
These became known as 'One arm bandit' for the fact that there was a lever to be pulled to make the reels spin and they also had the ability to rob the player of all his money.
In the UK they became known as fruit machines as they were to be found in many a pub or cafe and the emblems were all Melons and Oranges and Cherries and other Fruit symbols.
In the US things had advanced and there were many variations turning up. The simple ones with three drums were soon superseded with five drums and then there became multiple pay lines. There also started developing multiple machines contributing to a big cumulative Jackpot. To have a chance of winning the big Jackpot one had to play the maximum stake each play, usually 5 lines. In Las Vegas the largest Jackpot ever won was $39,700,000. It wasn't actually paid to him in cash but he receives 25 years of payments of $1.5million each year.
But note that to win on Slot machines the player has to have luck on his side. The percentage that each machine pays out is set by law in each state.
Nowadays virtually all slot machines are in fact electronic using a system of random number generators. This is set as firmware at the factory of manufacture and cannot normally be altered in the casino itself.
Enjoy yourself and do not lose it all.
Gambling has been around for as long and history has been recorded. There have always been games of chance and the concept of "luck" is not limited to any one culture or peoples. There is record of dice being made as long ago as 3,600 BC. The dice we used today are pretty much the same design as those made about 4,000 years ago. (2,000BC). It is recorded that the Roman emperor Claudius was playing dice and a favourable throw was involved when he took the final decision to re-invade Britain.
Gambling was brought to the US and much of it was based on packs of playing cards and dice. There are many Western movies which feature a card game, more often than not a game of Poker. There is a particularly amusing movie called "Big Deal in Dodge City" which totally revolved around a poker game, but there are many more.
A famous Marshal, 'Wild Bill Hickok' was shot in the back of the head because he sat down with his back to the door for a poker game in a town with the ominous name of Deadwood in what is now South Dakota. His hand of 2 black aces and 2 black 8s is known as a Dead-man's hand.
In 1891 in New York the first actual slot machine was invented. It resembled 3 drums that spun when made to and a manual payout was made to the player if the right numbers came up. The next development was the "Liberty Bell" which was heavy being made out of cast iron but it became popular as it was seen to be more reliable than the first slot machines. Slots History developed from then on.
These became known as 'One arm bandit' for the fact that there was a lever to be pulled to make the reels spin and they also had the ability to rob the player of all his money.
In the UK they became known as fruit machines as they were to be found in many a pub or cafe and the emblems were all Melons and Oranges and Cherries and other Fruit symbols.
In the US things had advanced and there were many variations turning up. The simple ones with three drums were soon superseded with five drums and then there became multiple pay lines. There also started developing multiple machines contributing to a big cumulative Jackpot. To have a chance of winning the big Jackpot one had to play the maximum stake each play, usually 5 lines. In Las Vegas the largest Jackpot ever won was $39,700,000. It wasn't actually paid to him in cash but he receives 25 years of payments of $1.5million each year.
But note that to win on Slot machines the player has to have luck on his side. The percentage that each machine pays out is set by law in each state.
Nowadays virtually all slot machines are in fact electronic using a system of random number generators. This is set as firmware at the factory of manufacture and cannot normally be altered in the casino itself.
Enjoy yourself and do not lose it all.
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