At the time, the machine had no way to payout wins, so players would go to the bar to collect their winnings – which were often non-monetary in nature and took the form of free drinks or cigars.Ĭharles August Fey, an American inventor of Bavarian descent, created the first slot machines (in the modern sense) in 1894. Of course, the house needed to have the edge, so two cards – the ten of spades and the jack of hearts – were removed from the machine, cutting the odds of getting a royal flush by 50%. Costing a nickel to play, the machine quickly become popular in many bars due to the novel mechanism of pulling the lever to line up to winning poker hands on the reels. The history of slot machines starts with the New York-based company, Sittman and Pitt in 1891, with their machine made up of five drums and 50 playing cards. From the traditional one-armed bandits to smartphone slots, join us as we look at the history of one of the industry’s most enduring and popular games. They are now at the heart of the entire global gambling industry and are incredibly popular thanks to their simple rules and accessible gameplay. Slot machines have come a long way since their invention more than 130 years ago.
