Today, slots and pokies are probably the most popular kinds of gambling - but that wasn't forever the situation. Although to the majority people having online slots and online pokies is commonplace, and their physical equivalents appear to have been around forever, the first video slot was officially invented only in 1899.
Back then it was known as a Liberty Bell which was comprised of 3 reels with 10 symbols on each reel. So as to win with this type of slots you essentially was required to match 3 symbols back to back to get the jackpot. Needless to say, the popularity of pokies skyrocketed after that and pretty soon there were various video poker machines everywhere.
That is certainly - until 1902. When prohibition arrived to effect in the us, gambling was officially banned. With that being said, it didn't stop pokies owners from innovating their machines to appear more innocent. Up till that point, the symbols on slots had included card suits and other such icons. However, when prohibition arrived to affect the video poker machines in existence were redesigned to provide out sweets and candies for wins.
As well as the symbols were altered too - to pictures of sweets, cherries, and so on. If you ever wondered why in the world most pokies have cherry symbols to them, this is the real reason!
Anyway, video poker machines continued to achieve popularity and found themselves finding their way onto the floors of most casinos and many bars. As time went by of course they became increasingly more complicated, with an increase of possible combinations producing a win, and further symbols being combined with the reel to decrease the odds of a player hitting the jackpot.
Frankly speaking, the next big pokies innovation only were only available in the 1980s when the random number generator was invented. This became the big innovation that allowed slot machine manufactures to stop using a mixture of mechanical and electrical parts and move towards a completely electrical video slot.
In short - slots machines lost their reels coupled with them replaced by the random number generator that randomly selects the results.
Since then, slots have virtually operated on that principle. Obviously, with the rise in the internet, people discovered that pretty soon they don't had to visit casinos or bars to experience pokies - they could do so in the comfort that belongs to them home with the numerous online slots that have come up.
Nowadays, it's quite common for true pokies enthusiasts to possess a game or a couple of online pokies here and there.
Obviously, slot machines attended a long way since the old days. With online slots now literally everywhere - it will be interesting to view how and where they progress next. No matter the reason, pokies has definitely cemented a spot for itself ever.
If you've never attempted to play online slots before - you ought to. Even if you're not interested in gambling, there are many websites that will permit you to just give it a try for free, in order to get an thought of how and why the action is so incredibly addictive!
