When slot machines were first invented, they quickly became an instant hit in saloons, bars, and other gambling venues. They have remained popular ever since, which is why slot machines are still a core part of gambling culture to this day. Whether played in a brick-and-mortar casino or online at home, these games of chance are loved by many around the world for the simple but thrilling gambling experiences they offer. 

Learn more about the history of slot machines and how slot machine technology has evolved over more than 100 years, from their first days in bars and other gambling dens to their modern home in the online casino.

The Slot Machine’s Ancestor

The device that many historians credit as being the ancestor of the slot machine was a gambling device developed by a company called Sittman and Pitt. At a glance, you’d be easily forgiven for thinking it was a slot machine. It had five reels, and each reel had different symbols on it. The symbols in this game were the faces of cards, with 50 faces presented on the reels. The aim of the game was to land a combination of cards that matched the hand rankings from poker — although, with two cards missing from the machine’s reels, you wouldn’t be able to make all the poker hands.  

Because of how complicated the combinations of symbols were, this device could not instantly reward players, which meant they had to collect their winnings from the machine’s operator. 

The First Slot Machine

Even though it wasn’t called that at the time, the first slot machine was invented in the late 19th century by a mechanic from San Francisco called Charles Augustus Fey. This early slot machine was called the Liberty Bell and featured three reels with diamonds, spades, hearts, and Liberty Bell symbols. The goal of the game was to line up three of the same symbol. If you managed that, you instantly received a reward, which varied depending on which symbols appeared on the reels. The ability to give out prizes straight away was possible thanks to the fact that the Liberty Bell only had three reels, down from the five used in Sittman and Pitt’s device. 

These first slot machines became an instant hit, and it wasn’t long before copycat devices appeared, all offering the same enthralling experience.

Slot Machines Go Electric

As advanced as the mechanical slot machine became, the technology that powered it would eventually be replaced. Mechanical slots were made obsolete by the invention of the electromechanical slot in the early 1960s. The first electric slot was named the Money Honey and was created by a game development company called Bally. On the outside, it looked the same as any other slot machine, but inside were electrical components instead of gears and springs. 

Video Killed the Mechanical Star

This switch to electrical systems also meant that one of the last mechanical aspects of the slot, the slot reel, was also on its way out. In 1976, a new slot called the Fortune Coin, developed by the Fortune Coin Company, would further move the slot machine away from its mechanical roots. This was the first ever slot machine to use a TV instead of a traditional slot reel, with the reels and symbols displayed on the screen, which was considered a groundbreaking development. In 1978, less than two years after this new slot machine’s release, Fortune Coin Company was purchased by powerhouse IGT. 

As video slots became more commonplace, game developers began to experiment with more gameplay mechanics — after all, they were no longer constrained by the mechanical aspects of the machine. This meant that these games could now offer players uniquely rare symbols, minigames, and even different paylines. 

The Invention of the Digital Slot Machine

The move away from mechanical to electronic slots laid the foundation for the next step in the evolution of slot machines, namely, a move into the digital era. 

For all intents and purposes, the inside of modern video slots is essentially a computer, with the results determined by software-based random number generators (RNGs). These RNGs are constantly generating random variables that affect the output of a slot machine, even when the game is not being played. Each time you hit spin, the game uses this RNG to display the results of the game on screen.

Much like the change from mechanical to electronic technology, the switch to digital slots allowed developers to become even more experimental with their designs. Today, you can find slots that look like the classic slots as well as slots that tower over players, with screens that are taller than many people. These games offer a variety of bonus games, some of which are so elaborate that they could almost be stand-alone games.

But as impressive as these slots were, they’d still be dwarfed by what was still to come.

Slots Go Online

Slots becoming a digital experience was the first step toward a much greater change in this genre of games. A new technology had arrived that would forever change the way slots are played. This technology was the internet.

Thanks to their new virtual format, slots developers could make slot games accessible on any device that could connect to the world wide web. That doesn’t mean that online slots immediately replaced their physical counterparts. While online gambling sites did indeed open up a whole new gambling avenue, virtual slots were initially only accessible on desktop and laptop computers. That’s because early online slots were developed using a tool called Flash, a platform that was developed for internet animation and which was eventually bought by Adobe, the developers of creative tools like Photoshop. 

Although Flash was the best solution at the time, it had some serious issues with security and performance. In fact, its performance was so bad on early portable computing devices that game developers had to switch to a whole new development platform called HTML5 — and it was a good thing they did. This new development platform not only improved performance on desktop computers and laptops but also made online slots and other casino games playable on a new generation of devices, the smartphone.

It goes without saying that the invention of the smartphone changed the way the world works, and this includes the way people play slot machines. Gamblers who enjoy online gambling no longer had to carry a laptop to be able to play on the go. Their favorite online games of chance were suddenly easily accessible on a device that could fit into a pocket or handbag. If you wanted to play live at a mobile casino, all you needed to do was pull out your smartphone and log on to your favorite casino online with an app.

Even though the first smartphones may seem very basic by today’s standards, they unlocked a world in which people could enjoy a few spins of their favorite virtual reels on the train, during their lunch break, or even while relaxing on the beach. This way of playing would become increasingly popular as smartphones, and later, tablets, became faster and more affordable, cementing the place of these portable devices as the way to play slots in the digital age.

Are VR Slots the Next Big Thing?

While gamblers around the world have embraced online gambling in all its shapes and forms, casino operators and game developers are wondering what the next big thing will be. For some, virtual reality (VR) could be the next evolution in slot machine technology. 

Imagine sitting in your living room and putting on a VR headset. Suddenly you’re no longer in your living room, but in your favorite virtual casino. Around you are all your friends, all having a good time playing. You reach over and shake your friend’s hand, which you feel thanks to the feedback that you’ve received from your VR gloves. You turn, and in front of you is your favorite slot. It’s almost so real that you can’t help but think it’s right there in the room with you. You press Spin on the virtual slot, and you feel that today is going to be your lucky day.

This may sound like a pipedream, but VR technology continues to move forward in leaps and bounds. The recently released Meta Quest 3 combines unrivaled portability with excellent VR graphics, incredible sound, and VR gloves that give you haptic and force feedback that makes you feel like you’re physically touching and holding things.  

As with cryptocurrency and the online gambling industry, it might still be some time before VR casinos and slots take over. But once this technology becomes as easy to use as pulling out your smartphone, it’s bound to become the way people enjoy online slots in the future.

Play the Latest Online Slots and Casino Games at Borgata Online

While the next big leap forward in slot machine technology might be a few years off, you can still enjoy the best that slots and other casino games have to offer at Borgata Online today.

Borgata Online has the latest online slots in a variety of genres. From long-lost civilizations and mythical gods to wild beasts and more, you can find an incredible library of themed slot games to play. But the gambling doesn’t start and stop with spinning reels. You can also find exciting table games, variety games, and virtual sports at Borgata Online. 
All you need to do to start having the time of your life is register now.