In 1895, Charles Fey decided to invent a new device for games of chance differentiating it from all the contemporary games at that time. The machine attracted a lot of interest due to its simplicity and great deal of amusement involved along with a suspension thrill of hitting the jackpot. Due to heavy demand arising from this machine, Charles Fey entered in to a partnership in 1907 with Mills Novelty Company. Consequently with a rich combination of expertise and resources, they invented a new slot machine which was christened the Mills Liberty Bell. The machine was basically made out of cast iron.
The Liberty Bell also was made out of cast iron and placed at the center of this machine. Though it was first manufactured with cast iron feet, later machines were produced with eye catching scrolled feet. They used traditional card symbols for the three reels fitted including clubs, hearts, spades and diamonds. Winners of the jackpot will hear a tingling of a bell to indicate their winnings. Somewhere between today and then, the practice of ringing a bell in winning instances was eliminated but has been regenerated in most machines manufactured at present.
In 1910, Mills Novelty Company proceeded to introduce another modified version of their slot machine. This was named as Operator Bell. This machine was the first that carried symbols of fruits which are still being used to date. Gaming devices manufactured by this company all weighed at least 100 pounds yet they were very successful in their novel idea which was reflected in the number of machines amounting 30,000 that was manufactured by them. Many improvements were made to later models, the first being to eliminate its bulky nature by introducing more lightweight machines.
Next step
Value additions in to slot machines were the next step and henceforth many new machines and features such as double jackpot, themed cabinet designs were introduced. Some notable slot machines that were famous during 1930s were War Eagle, Lion Head, Castle Front Designs and Roman Head. Eliminating the design of gooseneck slotting another machine was designed to show coins inside machine which could move in a row. This concept was a hit as it had advantages of being visually attractive and also facilitated the house to see genuine coins were put in to the machine instead of using slugs.
The slot machine invaded hotels in 1940 prompted by Bugsy Seigel in his Las Vegas Flamingo Hotel. Slot Machines then proceed to by pass gaming tables by accounting to a larger chunk of gambling revenues and attracted a lot of attention all around the world. With evolving techniques of today in video slots, multiple pavilions and bonus rounds all represent a wide range of fun. The hot slot machine of the moment is Big Kahuna introduced by Microgaming.
