The earliest slot machines of the world were designed in New York in 1891 by Pitt and Sittman and consisted of five drums which were meant to display poker hands. Since these slot machines did not have any payback mechanism, the so-called casinos of that era paid their customers in self designed prizes which more often than not consisted of a few extra rounds of drinks.

This system underwent a total transformation when Charles Fey, a car mechanic in San Francisco, invented the first mechanical slot machine in the basement of his house in 1895 and named it the Liberty Bell. As the first slot machine, it was totally different from the slot machines of the later years because not only was it very heavy but also lacked the typical fruit symbols which are normally associated with slot machines. Instead this machine featured stars, horse-shoes and playing card symbols like spades and diamonds and gave a fifty percent payout to the winners due to which it became very popular. This was soon followed by the Operator Bell slot machine which was also built by the same inventor and was incorporated with the typical fruit symbols of lemons, plums and cherries which have remained till this day and have also earned the machine its famous nickname ‘the fruit machine’.

Then came the dark era in the history of slot machines when during the first few decades of the twentieth century, the slot machines were branded as illegal and gambling was declared as an unacceptable way of life. However, this attitude metamorphosed completely in the following decades, when the slot machines were not only electrified but also replaced to a large extent by the electronic slots which proved to be much more secure and reliable.

The progress of the slot machines continued to be revolutionized further in the 1970s’ when the microchips were introduced for the first time and became the order of the day in all slot machines by the 1980s’. Since the last two decades of the twentieth century witnessed computerization on a massive scale, the casinos and the slot machines were also enveloped in this global wave and soon the online casinos with online slot games were the order of the day.

The slot machine has traveled a long way since its inception a century ago and now is one of the most lucrative casino games due to which the casino earns 70% of its revenue. Today there are around 30 million Slots players all over the world who bet a small amount of money and win a large sum in return in this most popular offline as well as online casino game. But the first slot machine which had been built by Charles Fey is still preserved by his grandchildren and can be seen by interested parties at the Liberty Belle Saloon and Restaurant in the city of Reno in the state of Nevada.