Slot Machine History

Slot Machine History

The first slot machine was invented by Charles Fey of San Francisco, California, U.S., who devised a much simpler automatic mechanism. Most assert that Fey invented the machine in 1887; however some believe that he may have conceived the machine in 1895. Due to the vast number of possible wins with the original poker card based game, it proved practically impossible to come up with a way to make a machine capable of making an automatic payout for all possible winning combinations. Charles Fey devised a machine with three spinning reels containing a total of five symbols – horseshoes, diamonds, spades, hearts, and a Liberty Bell, which also gave the machine its name. By replacing ten cards with five symbols and using three reels instead of five drums, the complexity of reading a win was considerably reduced, allowing Fey to devise an effective automatic payout mechanism. Three bells in a row produced the biggest payoff, ten nickels. Liberty Bell was a huge success and spawned a thriving mechanical gaming device industry. Even when the use of these gambling devices was banned in his home state after a few years, Fey still couldn't keep up with demand for the game elsewhere. Liberty Bell machine was so popular that it was copied by many slot machine manufacturers. Thus in 1907, manufacturer Herbert Mills from Chicago produced a slot machine called the Operator Bell. By 1908 lots of bell machines were installed in most cigar stores, saloons, bowling alleys, brothels and barber stores. The original Liberty Bell slot machine can still be seen at the Liberty Belle Saloon & Restaurant in Reno, Nevada.

Sittman and Pitt of Brooklyn, New York, U.S. developed a gambling machine in 1891 which was a precursor to the modern slot machine. It contained five drums holding a total of 50 card faces and was based on poker. This machine proved extremely popular and soon many bars in the city had one or more of the machines. Players would insert a nickel and pull a lever, which would spin the drums and the cards they held, the player hoping for a good poker hand. There was no direct payout mechanism, so a pair of kings might get the player a free beer, whereas a royal flush could pay out cigars or drinks, the prizes wholly dependent on what was on offer at the local establishment. To make the odds better for the house, two cards were typically removed from the deck: the ten of spades and the jack of hearts, which doubles the odds against winning a royal flush. The drums could also be rearranged to further reduce a player's chance of winning.

Another early machine gave out winnings in the form of fruit flavored chewing gums with pictures of the flavours as symbols on the reels. The popular cherry and melon symbols derive from this machine. The BAR symbol now common in slot machines was derived from an early logo of the Bell-Fruit Gum Company. The payment of food prizes was a commonly used technique to avoid laws against gambling in a number of states, and for this reason a number of gumball and other vending machines were regarded with mistrust by the courts. The two Iowa cases of State v. Ellis6 and State v. Striggles7 are both used in classes on criminal law to illustrate the concept of reliance upon authority as it relates to the axiomatic ignorantia juris non excusat Ignorance of the law is no excuse.8 In these cases, a mint vending machine was declared to be a gambling device because by internally manufactured chance the machine would occasionally give the next user a number of tokens exchangeable for more candy. Despite the fact that the result of the next use would be displayed on the machine, both courts ruled that The inducement for each play was the chance that by that play the machine would be set to indicate that it would pay checks on the following play. The thing that attracted the player was the chance that ultimately he would receive something for nothing. The machine appealed to the player's propensity to gamble, and that is a vice.9

In 1963, Bally developed the first fully electromechanical slot machine called Money Honey, although earlier machines such as the High Hand draw poker machine by Bally had exhibited the basics of electromechanical construction as early as 1940. The electromechanical approach of the 1960s allowed Money Honey to be the first slot machine with a bottomless hopper and automatic payout, of up to 500 coins, without the help of an attendant. The popularity of this machine led to the increasing predominance of electronic games, and the side lever soon became vestigial.

The first true, video slot machine was developed in 1976 in an industrial suite in Kearney Mesa, CA by N. Cerracchio, R. Greene, W. Beckman, J. Reukes, and L. Black under the direction of Fortune Coin Co., Las Vegas, NV. This slot machine used a modified 19 Sony Trinitron color receiver for the display, and logic boards for all slot machine functions. The prototype was mounted in a full size, show-ready slot machine cabinet. The first production units went on trial in the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel. After some cheat-proofing modifications, the video slot machine was approved by the Nevada State Gaming Commission and eventually found popularity in Las Vegas Strip and downtown casinos. Fortune Coin Co. and their video slot machine technology were purchased by IGT International Gaming Technology in 1978.

The first American video slot machine to offer a second screen bonus round was Reel 'Em In developed by WMS Industries Inc. in 1996.11 This type of machine had appeared in Australia from at least 1994 with the Three Bags Full game.12 In this type of machine, the display changes to provide a different game where an additional payout may be won or accumulated.

Shuffling

Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. Shuffling is often followed by a cut, to help ensure that the shuffler has not manipulated the outcome. A common shuffling technique is called the riffle or dovetail shuffle, in which half of the deck is held in each hand with the thumbs inward, then cards are released by the thumbs so that they fall to the table interleaved. Many also lift the cards up after a riffle, forming what is called a bridge which puts the cards back into place. This can also be done by placing the halves flat on the table with their rear corners touching, then lifting the back edges with the thumbs while pushing the halves together. While this method is more difficult, it is often used in casinos because it minimizes the risk of exposing cards during the shuffle. There are two types of perfect riffle shuffles: if the top card moves to be 2nd from the top then it is an in shuffle, otherwise it is known as an out shuffle which preserves both the top and bottom cards.

Riffle shuffling does, however, carry a risk of damaging cards from excessive bending. Casinos often replace their playing cards to prevent cheating from players that detect deformations in the cards. However, collectible card game cards are considerably less replaceable than playing cards, and CCG cards can be damaged from riffle shuffling, even when protected with card sleeves.

Because standard shuffling techniques are seen as weak, and in order to avoid inside jobs where employees collaborate with gamblers by performing inadequate shuffles, many casinos employ automatic shuffling machines. They also save time that would otherwise be spent shuffling, allowing several more hands per hour to be played and increasing the profitability of the table. These machines are also used to lessen repetitive motion stress injuries to a dealer. Note that the shuffling machines have to be carefully designed, as they can generate biased shuffles otherwise: the most recent shuffling machines are computer-controlled, though they have not yet fully been integrated into gaming.

Bastra

Bastra, the Greek deformation of the Arabic word Basra, which is also a similar game played in Egypt, Lebanon and other Middle-Eastern countries, is a popular fishing card game similar to Cassino very popular in Cyprus.

The game was probably introduced to the Cypriots through the Turks during the Ottoman occupation. There are also variations of the game played in Greece, such as Diloti and Kseri. The game has been exported by both the Cypriot and Turkish diasporas and is played in Cypriot communities in Australia, Canada, England and the United States, usually passed on by the first generation of immigrants to their children and grandchildren. Despite this, the game is virtually unknown in these countries outside of the Cypriot and Greek communities. In Turkey the game is still very popular.

The game is played with a 52 card deck and can involve two, three or four players, although the game is most interesting in the two or four player versions. In the four player version, the players can play for themselves or in two player teams. The first team or player to score 100 points is the winner.
The play

The dealer starts by dealing 1 card to each player, starting with the player on the dealer's left, until each player has 4 cards. The dealer then places 4 cards in the middle of the table, called the board. If 1 or more of the 4 cards is a jack, the dealer returns the jacks to the bottom of the deck and replaces it or them with the next cards from the top of the deck. The play begins with the player to the dealer’s left until all cards are played out. The players either collect fish cards from the board or add a card to the board if they cannot fish any cards. After the cards are exhausted, the dealer then deals each player 4 more cards from the remaining deck. The dealer, however, does not deal 4 cards onto the board as done for the opening hand. The hands are played out until there are no remaining cards to be dealt.

In the two player version, each round has six hands, in the three player version, each round has four hands, and in the four player version, each round consists of three hands.
Scoring

The scoring is as follows:

    The aces, which have a numeral value of 1, are worth 1 point each.
    The jacks are worth 1 point each.
    The two of clubs is worth 2 points.
    The ten of diamonds is worth 3 points.
    The player or team that collects the most cards in a given hand receives 3 points. In the event of a tie, each player or team receives 3 points.
    The player or team that collects all the cards in play without benefit of a jack receives 10 points, or a bastra.

Collecting cards

The object of the game is to collect total cards and cards that are worth various points. Cards are collected as follows:

    Pairing: Any card may be used to take another card or cards of the same denomination, i.e. a 7 takes a 7, a king takes a king, a 6 takes two 6s, etc.
    Combining: Multiple cards may be collected through adding the numeral value of the cards together. For example, the board shows 2, an ace, 5 and 4. A player with a 3 could take 2 and the ace 2+1=3, or a player holding a 9 could take 5 and 4 5+4=9, or a player holding a 7 could take 2, the ace and 4 2+1+4=7.
        A player may also collect combinations of the same sum. For example, if the board shows 5, 4, 2 and 7, a 9 would take all 4 cards, i.e. 5+4 and 2+7=9.
    Pairing and combining: Taking cards through pairing and combining can occur on the same play. For example, if the board showed 3 6 5 4 and 9, a 9 would take all the cards, i.e. 3+6 and 5+4=9, plus the 9 would be paired with the 9.

On the last hand, there are often uncollected cards left on the board. These cards are awarded to the last player or team to collect a card.
Jack

The jack is the most powerful card because it can collect all the cards on the board. However, if a jack is played onto an empty board, it is lost and remains in play until one of the players can collect it, usually with another jack.

The bastra is the most important scoring play of the game since it is worth 10 points. A bastra occurs when a player succeeds in clearing the board without benefit of a jack. For example, if the board shows just a 7 and a player collects it with another 7, that player or team receives 10 points. In another scenario, if the board shows 3 and 2 and a player collects them with a 5, that player or team also receives 10 points. In the rare event that a jack takes a solitary jack, a 50 point bastra is awarded.

The players place the collected cards close to their position at the table. To record bastras, the player places the bastra card face up, sticking out of the player's pile of collected cards. The dealer should be careful to place his or her collected cards away from the deck, so as to avoid confusion. Players are not allowed to look at their collected cards until the end of the hand. At the end of the hand, the players count their total cards and points.

The game ends when one player or team reaches 100 points. In the rare event of a tie 2 players or teams finish even beyond the 100 point mark there are various tie-breaking options, determined by the players by mutual consent. The game can be declared a draw, or an extra hand or hands can be played until the tie is broken. Or the players can extend the game to a fixed number of points 20, 30 or 50.