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Monday, November 13, 2006

One Armed Bandit

The One Armed Bandit – the most popular form of gambling in casinos throughout the world.

The first gambling machine featured 5 drums holding 50 card faces and was based on poker. It was developed by Sittman and Pitt of Brooklyn, New York in 1891. Many consider this machine the grand father of the modern day slot machine. Players would insert a nickel, pull a lever, and hope for a good hand of poker. There was no direct payout mechanism, so winning spins would be paid out with free drinks or cigars – whatever the house promoted.

Charles Fey of San Francisco invented the “One Armed Bandit” in 1887. Fey’s machine was much simpler than the Sittman and Pitt machine and featured 3 spinning reels containing 5 symbols - horseshoes, diamonds, spades, hearts, and a Liberty Bell, which also gave the machine it’s name. Because of the simpler design, Fey was also able to devise an effective automatic payout mechanism. The “Liberty Bell” was a huge success and spawned a thriving mechanical gaming device industry.

Another early machine paid the winner in fruit flavored chewing gum and utilized pictures of the flavors as the symbols on the reels. The popular cherry and melon symbols used today draw from this machine. The “BAR” symbol so common in slot machines today was derived from an early logo of the Bell-Fruit Gum Company.

Today, slot machines are one of the most popular forms of gambling and comprise about 70% of the average casino’s income.

Try your luck on this one…

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