Slot machines have long had a reputation as “one-armed bandits”, for their devious looks and their ability to take a bundle from gamblers.  This is not without reason, seeing as Slot machines have always held both the most instant gratification and instant dissatisfaction, it’s all as easy as pulling a lever (or pushing a button).  This is the reason that Slots have always been so popular.  It’s a game of complete chance usually played at very small stakes, and the instant nature of the win/lose makes it one of the most addictive and tempting of all casino games.  In fact, it is a fact that seventy percent of all casino profits come from Slot machines.

The way that most Slot machines (also known as Fruit machines or Poker machines) work is based on rotating reels.  Each reel has a series of pictures or symbols on it and if, when they stop, they line up to match, then there is a payout.  Slot machines usually have three or more reels spinning at once.  The more reels there are, the higher the odds and the payout.  Slot machines use what’s known as a “currency detector”, which is a watchdog program inside the machine that analyzes the token, coin, or bill inserted into the machine and makes sure it is valid.

Originally developed in 1891, the first “slot machine” contained five reels holding 50 card faces, and was more like the modern day Video Poker machine in that the payoff was based on poker hands, rather than matching symbols.  With the success of this machine, other developers began creating slot machines.  The first slot machine as we now know it were created by a man named Charles Fey, who was the one to put the first of the traditional slots symbols on the reels: the horshoe, the spade, the liberty bell, among others.  When he replaced the outmoded 5-reel, 50-card face model with the three-reel, five-symbol model, he ushered in an unprecedented wave of Slots fervor, and the business was off and running.  Another originator for the symbols we today see on Slots reels was a “fruit machine” which paid out with fruit flavored gum.  The symbols on the reels corresponded with the type of gum you’d be getting as a payout.  The symbols of cherries and melons are still left over from this machine.  The first slot machine fully ready for public consumption was created in 1964, which used an electromechanical system and required little to no assistance from the casino employees.

There are many different types of slot machines all over the world, let alone in a single casino.  There are machines with more than one payline, there are machines that have up to five reels, sometimes more, there are machines based on popular entertainment or culture (TV shows, films, etc.).  Clearly, the options are almost endless for Slot play.  With each new machine comes a new pay table.  The pay table is a table usually posted on the machine which lists the amount of money the gambler will receive if the reels end up matching the designated winning combination.  

As before mentioned, Slot machines do not take their nickname of “one-armed bandits” with good humor; they will often times take all your money without a single payoff.  So before you step up to a Slot machine, whatever type, remember that you are facing very high odds, especially if you are at a high-stakes machine.  The trick of a successful night of Slots playing is not to walk away a rich man, but to walk away with even a nickel more than you started with.