If you are having a really bad day, a trip to the casino would be a great way to brighten up your mood and add a much-needed thrill for once in your life. Minus the fact that you are risking something for you to win big, the moment when you can truly say that you are having fun is the best thing that gambling at the casino can give you. Now, among all the arcade games and tables that you can see at the casino, there is only one stuff that pretty much captures the very essence of gambling. That is none other than the SLOT MACHINE. I mean, what is not to like about the slot machine? Just insert a token, wait for a bunch of figures on display to appear, and if you get the winning combination, tada! You are bringing home lots of money!
Wherever you are and whatever you call the slot machine in your country, the slots, the puggy, the fruit machine... It cannot be denied that the slot machine is the star of the casino that both the newcomers and old-timer hustlers love. This is interesting to say, but did you know that this casino icon was originally not designed to be a household item in a gambler’s den?
The First Slot Machine As An Attraction At The Bar?
Tracing the origin of the slot machine would take us all back in the late 19th century, when the company Sittman and Pitt from New York would come up with an arcade game intended to draw in more people at the bars. Yes, the first slot machine was not actually intended to be placed inside the casino or any other gambling houses back then. Of course, there would be bar-goers who would grow bored and tired of drinking beers or knowing every stranger that entered the door. They would want to do something fun and interesting while killing time inside the bar. Thus, the first slot machine was born.
Well, technically, this prototype version of the slot machine was not considered to be the first slot machine, for the reason that would be explained later. For this early version, the machine would have 5 drums that would flash any of the 50 playing cards. You can’t expect that there would be a joker123 card in there.
If a player got a poker hand out of the possible combinations, like a three of a kind or a straight flush, then he gets to take home some winnings. Same with your regular poker, getting a royal flush would give the biggest takehome prize.
Now, years after the creation of this slot machine precursor, Charles August Fey was able to design the slot machine that we know today, which automatically gives out the winnings of the player, depending on the kind of poker hand that was dealt to him. In the first version, players would still need to go to the bar counter to collect his money.
