Fruit Machines - History And Information

The history of slot machines or one-armed bandits began in America over 100 years ago and Brooklyn, New York can claim to be the true birth place of the modern slot machine. In 1891 the card game poker was the blueprint for the new gambling machine invented by Sittman & Pitt, and for the cost of a nickel, a player would pull a lever to rotate 5 drums that held a deck of cards (two were omitted to ensure the odds were more favourable to the bar owner), if when the drums stopped the player had a good hand of Poker then a prize would be given to the winner. Due to the complexity of the machine and the many computations the prize would more than likely be beer or cigars rather than cash.

It would be another four years before a competitor Charles Fey, came up with a design that gave an automatic cash jackpot with a maximum payout of 10 nickels. This new gambling machine made in San Francisco no longer had a playing card theme instead the three reels would spin and a win would be achieved for matching any 3 of the available 5 symbols, hearts, bells, spades etc.

The origin of the term ‘fruit machine' is a result of the Bell-Fruit Gum Company's early slot machine that gave the winner a payout of a fruit flavoured gum. The gum would be won for matching fruit symbols of cherries, melons etc and of course the now famous BAR symbol a derivative of the company name.

In 1943 Harry E. Williams founded the Williams Manufacturing Company, with a background in engineering he was an early pioneer of electronic gaming and amusements, along with other notable names Bally and Gottlieb. The gambling public had to wait until the 1960's for the launch of Bally's ‘Money Honey', the electromechanical design of this machine gave an automated 500 coin jackpot which caused an exponential increase in not only the popularity of slot machines but the payout too.

Williams Manufacturing Company changed name (though ownership had already changed) to WMS Industries Inc. and was responsible in 1996 for the video slot machine ‘Reel ‘Em In', the first of its type to offer a multi coin, multi line and secondary bonus function which proved a massive hit in casinos. The company is now known as WMS Gaming and remains faithful to its gaming roots.

Fruit machines have come a long way from the ‘one-armed' bandit days of old, today's sophisticated machines no longer require the pull of the bandit's arm nor the feeding of pennies. Some machines do still employ the use of the traditional lever but this is to satisfy the desire for the classic design rather than functionality, and the cost of an individual game is now more likely to be 50p than a penny.

The modern slot machine is a bright and noisy computerised button pushing operation or in some cases, an interactive touch–screen. Games are modern and of popular themes, for example Monopoly, Austin Powers, Poker and can be quite complex with many special features, hold functions and nudges and are certainly daunting to those unaccustomed to them. The original simplistic version of 3 spinning reels with a variety of symbols based on a pack of playing cards, bells and fruit are a distant memory, and in their place is a sophisticated computer with a pre-programmed payout percentage and a Random Number Generator. This will, as its names suggests select numbers randomly and individually at a given moment in time for the player, each second passing will bring a completely different outcome, and will determine whether one wins or loses.

One common characteristic that all players of slot machines have, whether using the new rather complex machines or the primitive ones of days gone by, is the desire to win. The player is rewarded only occasionally, this in turn promotes the urge to keep playing in the hope that the next push of a button will bring that elusive payout. The odds of winning seem unfairly stacked against the modern player with some slots pre-programmed to payout jackpots only once within 100,000 games, there have been accusations of less than scrupulous practices in the industry whereby a machine seemingly offers the end user an element of chance yet is in fact pre-set in the favour of the owner/operator. Of course where there is cash involved there will always be someone greedy enough to try to make a killing, and where as some unscrupulous casino owner may set their machines so that the payout percentage is in their favour, on the same hand you have a minority of the end users attempting to defraud the owners by employing scams to cheat the machines. The industry has protected itself as much as possible by continually using technological advances to make cheating a thing of the past.

Technology has brought about even further advancements, ‘punters' no longer need to visit amusement arcades, pubs or clubs but can stay in the comfort of their own homes or offices and still enjoy a game, all that is needed is a computer with internet connection. It has recently been reported that there has been a huge increase in users over the last 6 months of online slot machines (no pennies required – just a credit or debit card!), the success of these sites follows closely in the footsteps of the online Bingo and Poker sites, and the average user is reported to be female and between the ages of 35 and 50.

The female user may be swayed by the glitz and glamour associated with Las Vegas and the likes however the surge in popularity could have more to do with the National Lottery and the UK's more relaxed gaming laws, which have seen an increase in gambling generally, making it more accessible and therefore more acceptable to the masses. The UK Government is now seeking to redress the balance by further changes to the gambling laws, though its desire to assist the habitual gambler to stop his habit is juxtaposition to the Treasury's gain from the increase in taxes.

It is fair to say that over 100 years of development and enjoyment have made the slot machines a permanent fixture, laws will change as will fashions and social trends, technology will bring further advancements, one thing is certain playing for fun is OK, playing to win will only end in tears – maybe the one-armed bandit hasn't changed that much at all!