12 Interesting and Incredible Facts about Slots and Slot Machines

Back in the day, women and the elderly were the target audience of slots machines. Generally, casinos did not take these games seriously. However, today casino management and the developers are revolutionizing gambling towards a fascinating phenomenon.

Slot machines remain as the most attractive and rewarding game of chance worldwide. The history and functioning of these machines entail myths and many misconceptions. This is why the following list gathers the most interesting and incredible facts surrounding slots.

1. Its Results Come From Random Number Generators

A group of mechanical reels and levers was its primitive mechanism, but currently, it is about an RNG. The random simulated number sequences run as fast as thousands of cycles per second. Therefore, the slot's results are completely random and depend on the player's luck. This is why no strategy will work when playing the slots.

2. Innovative Bonus Rounds

In 1996, the Reel ‘Em slot innovated with a second screen bonus. From there, slots makers add groundbreaking and refreshing bonuses to their machines. Bonus rounds usually imply choosing objects to reveal prizes, battling an opponent, shooting objects, and spinning a wheel. Online slot sites like slots.ag offer free spins, high bonuses, and cash prizes for the newbies.

3. Slot Machines Are Evolving

Developers are innovating the game’s methodology by adding skills to capture younger players. This way, the gamer's payout depends on the score of aliens killed in Scientific Games’ Space Invaders or the number of blasted robots in GameCo’s Danger Arena.

4. Slots Payback Is Quite High

The return to player or RTP rate is the money percentage a player theoretically will win back from their investments. Land-based slot machines have an 80% average and lower, but online slots can even payback 99%. This percentage is stored on a non-volatile random access memory software. To alter that percentage, owners have to change this software physically. Moreover, they can only do so after going under red tape. Despite the common myth stating that slots are easy to tamper is simply not true, doing so is both time-consuming and illegal.

5. The Largest Slots Jackpot

A great feature of slots is the possibility of winning a high jackpot. In 2003, a young software engineer won a $39.7 million prize at Las Vegas’ Excalibur casino right after sitting and putting $100 on Megabucks. The largest worldwide online slots jackpot in history belongs to Jon Heywood, a British soldier who won £13,000,000 in Microgaming’s Mega Moolah in 2015.

6. A Very Addictive Game

Surprisingly, slots are four times more addictive than other types of gambling. Multiple studies have demonstrated slots develop a fast-paced addiction in comparison to blackjack or craps.

7. Hundred Dollar Casino Slots 

Usually, a single penny sets the game into motion in most casinos. However, there is no limit on credit costs and it can be as much as $100 per play. This is a high-risk opportunity for wealthy adrenaline junkies.

8. Different Names around the Globe 

Slot machines have nicknames in different countries. In Australia, slots are poker machines or pokies. British name the slots fruit machines or fruities because of their fruit symbols. The Scottish commonly refer to those as a puggy.

9. The First Slot Machine 

Back in 1891, Sittman and Pitt created the first gaming machine in Brooklyn. It was a five spinning drums mechanism to display 50 cards. After inserting a nickel, the reel started to play and offered a poker hand. Its rewards were free beers and cigars. This led to Charles Fey to develop the first machine in 1893. A hundred years later, innovation came with Microgaming’s first online slots in 1994.

10. First Home Gambler

The musician Lemmy Kilmister was better known for his gambling passion than for his music. A completely equipped hall with slot machines at his place allowed him to offer home gambling entertainment during private parties.

11. The Japanese Love Slots 

The Japanese call their game version pachinko. Japan has about 5 million slot machines. This is as much as a machine for every 27 people. Japanese slot machine fever is because their version is both a game of chance and skill. In pachinko, gamers win balls that can be exchanged for prizes. Later on, players can sell those for cash to a vendor outside the store.

12. One-Armed Gum Bandit

Due to struggles with business and prohibitions, Bell-Fruit Gum launched the first slot to reward with gum after a three-reel match. Replacing cards for the gum fruit-flavored pictures, it sealed a landmark in slot history.