A Brief History Of The Casino Slot Machine

Today, slot machines generate over 70% of all casino revenue worldwide, dominating the floors with massive screens and loud music.


Tracing the history of these machines reveals exactly how the modern gambling industry was built.

The Mechanical Era: The Birth of the Liberty Bell

Before the Liberty Bell, gambling machines required a bartender to manually hand over a prize, like a free beer or a cigar.


Fey's brilliant design used three physical metal reels painted with symbols like horseshoes, diamonds, spades, and a cracked Liberty Bell.

When gambling was temporarily banned, the machines were altered to dispense fruit-flavored chewing gum instead of cashThis era is exactly why we still use 'fruit symbols' like cherries and melons on modern slot machines todayThe famous 'BAR' symbol originally represented the corporate logo of the Bell-Fruit Gum Company
The Transition to Video Slots and RNG

Instead of physical reels, the Fortune Coin machine used a modified 19-inch Sony television to display digital, computer-generated symbols.


However, the introduction of the Random Number Generator (RNG) microchip proved that the digital games were completely fair and random.

MilestoneInnovationImpact on GamblingMegabucks (1986)First linked progressive networkCreated the first multi-million dollar slot jackpotsOnline Slots (1996)Transition to the internetAllowed players to gamble from their home computers

Today, the slot machine continues to evolve, incorporating elements of mobile gaming and virtual reality to attract younger audiences.