The first slot machine appeared in 1898, thanks to mechanic Charles August Fey. At first, they were mechanical reel machines with the famous tile, spade, horseshoe and bell symbols.
Then, in the 1920s, gambling was banned. Mills then had the idea to modify the slot machines into candy dispensers. That’s when the first slot machines with fruit symbols, so famous today, appeared.
In 1963, electromechanical machines were introduced, followed by electronic machines in 1980. Thanks to the explosion of the Internet, online machines gambling became one of the most played games in the world.
The mechanism of slot machines
Slot machines have evolved tremendously over time, from mechanical to video machines to this day. The operation remains pretty much the same for all types of slots. However, we will focus on online slots.
The player presses an action button in the game’s interface to trigger the reels’ rotation (usually between 3 and 5, but some games have many more). The RNG engine allows a random draw, which stops the reels and displays the series of several symbols.
Depending on the combination that is output and the pay-lines on the machine, the player can win a prize thanks to these automated algorithms. One of the new mechanisms on online slot machines is called Auto Play. It allows players to automate their games and spin the reels a predefined number of times, with a bet limit and a win limit. This is very convenient for users who don’t want to press the ‘Play’ button at every new game.