Online Casino, casinos

Slot machines, the real symbol of a casino are a concept that was invented in the country of gambling, the United States. Slot machines are a game that can be considered recent when compared to the other “dinosaurs” of casino games such as roulette or black jack which were invented some hundreds of years before.

Even though the first slot machine came into being in the United States, its creator was of European origin. Charles August Fey born in Germany in 1862 emigrated to the United States with his parents when he was very young. This mechanic by training worked for the “ California Electric Works Company” when he decided to create his very first prototype of a machine in 1894. Greatly influenced by the expansion of “automatic roulette wheels” which met with great success at the time, Charles August Fey, helped by one of his ex-colleagues Theodore Holtz, with whom he decided to create his own company, invented the very first slot machine in 1895. The “4-11-44” was made up of three concentric dials which could bring in up to $5. He rented this machine to a bar in San Francisco and met with such unexpected success that he was obliged to create another one to meet demand. In 1896 and in the face of the success of these machines, he left the management of the company to Holtz in order to set up a new company dedicated uniquely to the creation of slot machines.

In 1898, the history of slot machines reached a turning point with the manufacture of the first machine with rollers. The “Card Bell”, followed very quickly by an improved model known by all as THE modern slotmachine the “Liberty Bell” had  major success in the world of gaming. Completely revolutionary because it was smaller and cheaper than the leading game at the time, Roulette, slot machines also didn't need any specific staff.

But Fey's incredible success attracted the envy and jealousy of some large firms such as Mills, which in 1906, after having stolen a “Liberty Bell” from its inventor, put an identical machine on the market. Charles August Fey wasn't able to benefit fully from the results of his invention and leadership in slot machines fell to the large firms such as Mills and also Watling, Caille etc.

Faced with this phenomenal success among players and its quite addictive effect the American authorities tried to ban slot machines with a proposed law. The Mills company had the good idea to add a sweet distributor which allowed the player to play in an indirect way. In fact, by buying sweets in these machines, the player also turned the rollers...this little trick saved slot machines.

To-day slot machines represent the major part of the income of actual casinos. Almost all casinos offer their clients a very large choice of slot machines to the joy of players who never get tired of hearing the “bell” of the jackpot sounding.