Slot Machines Go Way Back
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The first slot machine was introduced in New York in 1891. It was a poker machine with five drums holding 50 cards. The machine paid out in free beer, cigars or food instead of coins to avoid municipal anti-gambling laws.
Poker machines were popular in New York in the late 19th century. They were paid out in free beer, cigars, food or drinks to avoid gambling laws. A new version of the poker machine was developed in San Francisco. It had just three spinning reels with five symbols instead of a full deck of cards. It was called Liberty Bell after the Liberty bell. The machine became popular before World War I. Other companies developed their own versions.
In the early days, dealing with all the winning combinations afforded by poker proved too much for slot machines.
The Money Honey was the first electromechanical slot machine. The Fortune Coin Co. of Kearny Mesa, California created the video slot machines in the early 1980s. The first video slots were popular on the Vegas Strip and downtown casinos. They used a 19-inch Sony Trinitron color display and logic boards.
Online gambling is hugely popular. The first online gambling software was developed by Microgaming in 1994. In 2001, 8 million people had gambled online worldwide. Online gambling revenue has risen from $21 billion in 2008 to more than $56 billion today. Free slots are a good alternative to online casinos.
