The slot machine stands for the modern and currently most widespread game of chance in the world. No picture of the gambling metropolis Las Vegas can do without it, it plays a supporting role in films such as the Ocean’s Eleven film series and in Germany it can be found in casinos, casinos, restaurants and pubs. The online casinos, which are becoming increasingly popular, also offer numerous variants in digital form.
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE LEVER
The history of slot machines dates back to the late 19th century. Probably the first slot machine was invented in the USA in 1889 by the Caille brothers. Here you could start the game with a lever. Ten years later, the German emigrant August Frey optimized this basic principle with the 3-reel game system. This reel system is still widely used in digital gaming systems today. Frey’s toy called “Liberty Bell” quickly became very popular. Slot machines used to work according to the roulette principle: you had to bet on a color before turning the lever on the rotating disc, which consisted of alternating red and black fields. In the first few years after the invention of these slot machine models, the unofficial name of “one-armed bandit” prevailed.
PROHIBITIONS MAKES INVENTIONABLE
The banning of slot machines in many countries around the turn of the century brought about a major change, the effects of which can still be seen today. Since you were not allowed to play for money for a long time, you could only win small prizes. The machines where you could gamble for sweets of different flavors were very popular in the USA. The fruit symbols used for this have also prevailed in Europe and are still part of most slot machines worldwide even after the reintroduction of slot machines. After these symbols, the slot machine is now also called the Fruit Machine in Great Britain. In the USA, the term slot machine has prevailed – named after the earlier slot machine – while in Australia the slot machine – although the popular card game was often missing on the device – is referred to as a poker machine.
THE BEGINNINGS IN GERMANY
The first slot machines were developed in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. The best known device was the Bajazzo finger beating machine developed in Leipzig. In the 1920s there were more than 10,000 of these toys in Berlin alone. From the early 1930s, the first legal basis was created and the first testing institute, the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, was founded. A short time later, however, the machines could only be used at trade fairs. In the early days of the Federal Republic of Germany, the installation of slot machines was generally permitted again. However, the site could only be selected according to youth protection criteria. Accordingly, from the 1950s slot machines could only be found in arcades and suitable restaurants. Over the years, the requirements for installation, operation and use have been heavily regulated. The extensive legal regulations that slot machines are subject to today differ depending on the jurisdiction and the location of the machine.
SLOT MACHINES IN CASINS
While they were already introduced in US casinos in the first decades of the 20th century, it took until the 1960s in Germany for the first machines to move into casinos. Not least because of this, the slot machine game used to be called “Spielchen” in German casinos. The classic games of chance such as roulette and blackjack were called “Big Game”. While slot machines hardly contributed to the total income of casinos in the first two decades of their operation, they have been responsible for more than half of the turnover of German casinos since the late 1980s. Nowadays, the slot machine turnover in German casinos is almost 80 percent. Some locations therefore only offer slot machines.
A BIG BOX WITH HIGH-TECH PU
While the original playground equipment was still simple and purely mechanical in terms of structure and function, over time they became much more complicated and operated electromechanically. Today’s slot machines are usually highly complex and purely electronic devices that bear little resemblance to their mechanical ancestors given the computers they contain. In addition to the purpose of gambling, the look has also remained the same: both the box-like shape and the colorful and well-lit design make it possible to recognize a slot machine from afar since its invention. On the other hand, other gaming devices that work without a money-winning function – such as pinball or video game machines – usually differ significantly in appearance and function from classic slot machines.
THE GAME RANGE – DIVERSE AND CLASSIC
Thanks to the technical equipment, the game offer of modern slot machines can include a variety of complex games of chance – including poker, blackjack and roulette – on a single device. Typically, however, some of the most popular slot machines include types of games that follow the game system that slot machines possessed as early as the 19th century. The game consists of several reels – initially mechanical, now digital – on which different symbols are placed. The usually three to six reels are set in motion by pressing a button and either stop by themselves or can usually be stopped prematurely by pressing them again. There are several lines to bet on. The amount of the win depends on how many matches of the same symbols on the line played are made and how rare each symbol is. In addition, modern slot machines have various bonus games and interactive features. Incidentally, in many retro machines, the game can still be started with the well-known lever on the right: The so-called “one-armed bandit” simply cannot be killed.
Commissar accident in the lead role
The often supposedly discovered event connections or observed regularities of players at slot machines are a fallacy. Regardless of the manufacturer, every slot machine is subject to a computer-determined random principle, which is always the same with every push of a button. Regardless of whether the spinning process ends prematurely on its own, the chance of winning always remains the same. With slot machines – like with any other game of chance – only chance is decisive. Neither tactics nor time of day, neither skilled hands nor prayer will help. In the early years of machines and the first half of the 20th century, there were still isolated models that could be manipulated, but those days are long gone. Today’s slot machines have become lighted machines with networked high-performance computers inside. How, when and in what combination the symbols appear on the display is completely arbitrary and depends solely on highly complicated algorithms. Therefore, it is inevitably impossible to predict an outcome.
THEY CAN BE ABSOLUTE – IT JUST DOESN’T REACH
However, the fact that chance alone decides does not prevent either the beginner or the experienced player from hoping that things could turn out differently. Who hasn’t held a lucky charm in their hands, crossed their fingers or prayed to heaven in hopes of hitting the big jackpot? Of course, such “rituals” can also produce amazing results: many players only want to play on “their” device, and those who are on a lucky streak do not want to be approached at all, let alone touched or disturbed. Bad luck and good luck are seemingly decided by putting on a certain shirt, ironing it too early or too late, or stepping into the casino on the wrong foot. Finding gambling tactics and strategies that will ensure you win is practically as old as gambling itself. While you can at least bluff in poker or cheat at private game nights with friends, slots don’t exist Chance to sway it in his favor. The length of time between winning and winning again is purely coincidental. Accordingly, there is no strategy in slot games that makes winning more likely. However, should it actually be the case that a rite or a supposed strategy coincides with a big loss or a big win, it is still – as always with slot machines – an absolute coincidence.
HOW ARE THE CHANCES?
How high the win or payout rate is can differ significantly in slot machines compared to classic games of chance – such as roulette or blackjack, in which the odds remain essentially the same depending on the type of game. The odds of winning at slot machines often vary greatly depending on the machine type, country or location. There is no equal opportunity in the gambling paradise of Las Vegas. Even within a casino, the win rate can differ significantly depending on the location or machine model. In Germany, too, there is no uniform regulation. A minimum payout rate is usually given depending on the site, a maximum rate varies greatly. However, one should keep in mind that a high odds does not mean that you have a great chance of hitting the jackpot. The payout percentage also affects small wins and bonus games that you get while playing and makes up the overall payout percentage.
THE BIG JINGLE IS PREPARED
Only a few years ago, slot machines were “fed” with coins. A win was correspondingly loud, and it rattled for minutes in the winning compartment. Nowadays, bills are used to pay and winnings are usually paid out cashlessly on the device. You can usually print out the total credit on a receipt directly at the machine. The ticket can then be redeemed at the cash desks of the casinos or special payout terminals. Alternatively, you can use the ticket at the bill collection point like a bill to play another slot machine. Another payment system on modern machines is the prepaid card format. Here the game balance can be loaded onto a credit card-sized card. The function is otherwise the same as with the ticket system. The payment method was changed over the course of the first two decades of the 2000s, so that there is now almost no large casino in the world that has not switched to the modern deposit and withdrawal system.
A STAR IN THE AUTOMATIC SKY
The most famous slot machine shows how much a win depends on the chance of the slot machine algorithm. The jackpot of the slot machine Lion’s Share, which was in the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas until 2014, could only be cracked after 21 years with a status of over two million dollars. In the past, many players only drove to the metropolis of Nevada to try their luck at the legendary slot machines. The gaming device even had its own social media fan accounts. Finally, a couple from New Hampshire took home the $2.4 million jackpot. You have to be lucky.