Barry’s World

With thousands upon thousands of listings for online slots now available, it’s hard not to end up wondering where on earth the madness of slot machines originated.  Gambling games of chance have been around forever.  Many hold no hope of revealing their historical roots.  This is not, however, the case with our infamous one-armed bandits.

Online slots actually find their roots in American history. A man by the name of Charles Fey created the prototype form of this game all the way back in 1887 in San Francisco, California.  The game started out with three wheels, as is still commonly seen today and each wheel held 10 symbols.

The top jackpots paid came with a match of three bells, eventually leading this machine to be known as the “Bell” machine. The machine came with a lever on the side which was used to get the three wheels spinning. Here we find the beginnings of the “one-armed bandits” nickname.

In 1910, things began to change for the spreading “Bell” machine. Fey partnered with another man by the name of Herbert Mills. This teaming led to the still common fruit symbols being used today. These machines were produced by the thousands and weighed in at more than 100 pounds each.

Having seen the way-back background of slot machines, what is it that brought on the internet slot revolution? One of the reasons is the simplicity. Casinos first started using the machines as a distraction for wives and girlfriends as the “real” players sat in on table games. The game, in and of itself, was and is very simple.

To add the simplicity of getting to online slots in seconds over the internet makes the game even more appealing for even the most lazy people. No longer having to fight traffic, parking, crowds, and noise can make the simple gambler’s life extremely easy.

But are the internet slots as reliable as the traditional physical machines? Caution is needed but, in general, it’s a pretty good bet that they are. Most online slots today use a thing called a random number generator (RNG). As the name implies, the RNG is used to randomly select what symbols will surface on each simulated wheel face.

One-armed bandits have come a long way in converting to one-click wonders, but they seem to be as here to stay as their physical counterparts. The choices for online slots abound with almost no limit.

Did You Know?
Online slots offer payback percentages that top Las Vegas based casinos.

You can find the payback percentages of online slots at most quality websites. With that in mind, it’s almost as fun looking for slot machines that are fun to play, offer good payback percentages and have great graphics as it is to actually play them.

We must be thankful to Mr. Charles Fey because without him all of these great websites would never have existed. Also, there is little doubt that casinos would never have been as successful if this wonderful machine had never been invented. And, without him millions of people would never have had the thrill of yelling Jackpot from their easy chair.