The Complete Guide to Slot Machines

Slot machines have progressed from being just a low key game, intended to entertain the wives of the "real gamblers" - those who came to casinos to play video poker , roulette, Blackjack etc., to being the most popular and biggest money maker casino game of all!

The beginning

The slot machine concept began with the American Charles Fey who first built slot machines in San Francisco in 1894. He had invented a number of coin operated devices including what is considered to be the prototype of modern slot machines - the original 3 reel bell slot machine that he built in 1898.

This machine incorporates the basic mechanics that is used in mechanical gaming devices today. It used 3 reels with 20 symbols each that spun around an axis and created a multitude of displaying options.

The popularization of the slot machine was and is so great because contrary to other casino games such as poker , blackjack and roulette, slot machines are played at the player's pace, have no dealer involved and don't require any skill at all.

The objective of the game is to win by having the symbols on the reels spin and line up in certain winning combinations. The pay for each win is dependant on the number of coins that were inserted before the spin.

Regular or progressive?

Basically, there are 2 types of slot machines:

Straight slots/flat tops: These machines are straight forward in independent of other slotmachines. It pays predetermined amounts to a specific play.

Progressive slot machines: These more sophisticated machines incorporate a jackpot that grows by a percentage with each coin fed into it. It is common for a number of these machines to feed into one jointed jackpot that any of the machines in that group can win which makes that jackpot vastly big. These machines can be interconnected within a certain casino or even in that state or country.

Most slot machines have one pay line but some have 3 pay lines which require a coin to be inserted to each one in order to achieve a win, which is of course proportioned to the number of coins needed to operate it.

The common machines operate with 3 reels but some have 4 or 5 reels. In slot machines the odds of winning is determined by the reels number and the symbols number on each reel. The more reels and symbols there are in a machine the more uncommon it is to win but the prize is considerably bigger. Most slot machines are programmed to pay out 83% to 98% of the cash stored in them from previous plays.

When winning small jackpots the prize money is delivered by the machine itself. However, when dealing with the large jackpots wins, the prize money is paid out by the casino itself.

How does it work?

The classic slot machine design works on a set of gears and levers. The central element is a metal shaft, which supports the reels. This shaft is connected to a lever that starts its process. A braking system stops the spinning reels and sensors notify the position then reels' position to the payout system, all depending on a coin being inserted and allowing the mechanism to work.

In an electrical machine, the reels are spun by motors. Stoppers are generally activated by solenoids. The game, however, basically plays out the same way. Electrical machines a have more sophisticated money-handling system, like in vending machines and have grandiose flashing light and sound effects.

In both systems, once the reels have come to a stop, the slot machine needs to read whether the player has won or lost and if needed issue the prize money.

Slot machine playing tips:

• The lights on the top of the machines are called candles. The bottom light is colored and that color indicates what kind of machine it is: red for nickel machines; yellow for quarter machines; blue for dollar machines.
• Do not play more than one machine at a time because that way the house gets a bigger edge on you.
• No slot system can predict when a certain machine is about to get a jackpot, it can only tell you the general odds to win.
• When playing progressive machines play the full amount of coins possible because the prize amount is relative to the amount invested in the play itself.
• A slot machine that hasn't won in a long time is not "due" to win.
• Set a time limit or a money limit to your gambling sessions.