47 Fun Facts About Slot Machines

What is the classic nickname for a slot machine?

The nickname is 'one-armed bandit': the single side lever is the arm, and the machine's knack for emptying wallets makes it a bandit.

What are slot machines called in Australia and New Zealand?

'Pokies' is short for poker machines, the everyday Australian and New Zealand name for slot machines; officially they are called gaming machines.

What are slot machines called in Scots?

In Scots a slot machine is a 'puggy', so 'puggies'; elsewhere in Britain the usual name is a fruit machine.

On which card game was Sittman and Pitt's five-drum, 50-card machine based?

It was based on poker: players spun five drums of card faces hoping for a strong poker hand, and the bar paid prizes such as free beer or cigars.

Which two cards were usually removed from the Sittman and Pitt machine to help the house?

The ten of spades and the jack of hearts were usually removed, which doubled the odds against a player hitting a royal flush.

Which German-born San Francisco mechanic devised the three-reel slot machine?

Charles Fey, born August Fey in Bavaria in 1862, built the first three-reel slot machine in his San Francisco workshop in the 1890s.

What was the first three-reel slot machine called, after the symbol that paid the most?

The Liberty Bell, Charles Fey's three-reel machine of the 1890s, took its name from its highest-paying symbol; its reels also showed horseshoes, diamonds, spades and hearts.

How much did three bells in a row pay on the original three-reel machine?

Three bells in a row paid ten nickels, or 50 cents, the top prize on the original Liberty Bell machine.

In which Bavarian town was the slot machine's inventor born in 1862?

Charles Fey was born in 1862 in Vöhringen, a small Bavarian town on the River Iller near Ulm, and emigrated to the United States in his early twenties.

Which manufacturer produced the first copy of the original machine, in 1907?

Herbert Mills of Chicago produced the first copy in 1907; by 1908 'bell' machines were in cigar stores, saloons, brothels and barber shops.

Why did lemons, cherries, oranges and plums appear on early slot reels?

Early Bell-Fruit Gum machines dispensed fruit-flavoured gum as prizes, so lemon, cherry, orange and plum symbols showed the flavours; an Operator Bell came with a gum-vending attachment.

Which number, shown on every reel, forms the classic jackpot line on slot machines?

Three sevens, '777', is the classic jackpot line on reel slots; the red seven became a standard top-paying symbol alongside bars and bells.

Which Iowa cases about a mint vending machine teach 'ignorance of the law is no excuse'?

In State v. Ellis and State v. Striggles, Iowa courts held that a mint vending machine that sometimes paid extra tokens was a gambling device, and that relying on officials' assurances was no defence.

Which 1963 Bally machine was the first fully electromechanical slot?

Bally's Money Honey (1963) was the first fully electromechanical slot; its bottomless hopper could pay out up to 500 coins automatically, without an attendant.

Which company built the first video slot in 1976 around a Sony Trinitron television?

Fortune Coin Co. built the first video slot in 1976 around a modified 19-inch Sony Trinitron receiver; the prototype was trialled at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Which company bought the video slot pioneer and its technology in 1978?

IGT (International Game Technology) bought Fortune Coin and its video slot technology in 1978, and video slots became a mainstay of its business.

Which 1996 WMS game was the first American video slot with a 'second screen' bonus round?

WMS's Reel 'Em In (1996) was the first American video slot with a second-screen bonus round; Australia's Three Bags Full had used the idea in 1994.

Which TV game show became IGT's biggest licensed slot machine brand, starting in 1996?

Wheel of Fortune slots, launched by IGT in 1996, became the industry's most successful licensed brand, with a spinning bonus wheel echoing the show.

What is the list on a slot machine of winning symbol combinations and their payouts called?

The pay table is the machine's public list of winning symbol combinations and what each pays; on video slots it sits behind an on-screen button.

Which Norwegian mathematician patented the virtual-reel random number generator in 1984?

Inge Telnaes patented the virtual-reel random number generator in 1984; the patent itself said the aim was a machine perceived to offer better odds than it has. IGT later bought it.

What does RTP stand for on a slot machine?

RTP stands for return to player: the percentage of money wagered that a machine is programmed to pay back over the long run, set above a legal floor such as Nevada's 75%.

What is the legal minimum payout percentage for slot machines in Mississippi?

Mississippi law sets a minimum payout of 80% for slot machines; Nevada's floor is 75% and New Jersey's is 83%.

What is the table of probabilities for a specific slot machine called?

The PAR sheet lists a machine's reel strips, symbol probabilities and theoretical payout percentage; makers and regulators treat them as confidential.

On which chip is a slot machine's payout software usually stored?

The payout software is usually held on an EPROM chip; in New Jersey it carries a tamper-evident seal and can be changed only with Gaming Control Board officials present.

What is the light on top of a slot machine called?

The light on top is the candle; it flashes to summon an attendant when change is needed, the machine needs service, or a jackpot has been hit.

What term for any slot machine fault comes from old electromechanical tamper switches?

Modern machines have no such switches, but a door in the wrong state is still called one.

What is a payout made by an attendant, rather than the machine, called?

It happens when a win exceeds the machine's preset limit, usually where taxes kick in.

What does TITO stand for on modern slot machines?

TITO is ticket-in, ticket-out: a thermal printer replaces the coin hopper, and the barcode ticket is inserted in another machine or redeemed at a kiosk.

What is a prize pool that grows with every play until it is won called?

A progressive jackpot grows with a slice of every wager until someone wins it; machines are often linked across casinos so it grows faster.

Which state's laws led to 'skill stop' buttons on Bally machines in the early 1970s?

New Jersey law required that players be able to control the game in some way, so skill-stop buttons were fitted to about 50 Bally machines in the early 1970s; they were a hit on the Jersey Shore.

Which is the only US state with no significant restrictions on slot machines?

Nevada is the only state with no significant restrictions on slot machines for public or private use; New Jersey, by contrast, allows them only in Atlantic City hotel casinos.

Which Australian state first legalised poker machines, in registered clubs in 1956?

New South Wales legalised poker machines in registered clubs in 1956; by 1999 nearly half of Australia's gaming machines were in that state.

Roughly what share of the world's gambling machines were in Australia in 1999?

The 1999 Productivity Commission report found about 21% of the world's gambling machines were in Australia, roughly five times as many per head as in the United States.

Which Australian state confines gaming machines to a single casino, Crown Perth?

Western Australia permits gaming machines only at Crown Perth, and even those may not closely resemble spinning-reel poker machines.

Which South Australian politician was first elected in 1997 on an anti-poker-machine ticket?

He later reached the federal Senate on the same cause.

What are the moves that let a British fruit machine player step a reel on one symbol called?

Nudges let the player step a reel down one symbol after a spin; British fruit machines also offer 'holds' that keep reels in place for the next spin.

Which UK Act replaced the Gaming Act 1968 as the law governing slot machines?

The Gambling Act 2005 replaced the Gaming Act 1968, created the Gambling Commission and sorted machines into categories A to D by stake and prize.

What are Japanese slot machines, found in pachinko parlours, called?

They are pachislots (or pachislo), a name fusing 'pachinko' and 'slot'; they run on tokens and let players stop the reels with buttons.

In which year did Russia ban gambling establishments, wiping out its 'slot clubs'?

Russia banned gambling establishments outside four designated zones on 1 July 2009, closing the 'slot clubs' that had spread since 1992, led by the Vulcan 777 and Taj Mahal chains.

How big was the 2009 jackpot a Ho Chi Minh City casino refused to pay, calling it an error?

The 2009 jackpot shown on a machine at a Ho Chi Minh City casino was about $55.5 million; the casino called it a software error, a court ordered payment in full in 2013, and the case later settled.

At which Las Vegas casino was the $39.7 million Megabucks jackpot of 2003 hit?

The $39.7 million Megabucks jackpot was hit at the Excalibur on 21 March 2003 by a 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles.

Which slot cheat, inventor of the 'monkey paw' and 'lightwand', stole over $5 million?

Tommy Glenn Carmichael built the 'monkey paw' and the 'light wand' to trip coin hoppers and blind optical sensors, stealing millions over two decades before he was caught in the late 1990s.

What term does NYU's Natasha Dow Schüll use for the trance-like immersion of slot players?

Schüll calls it 'the machine zone': in her book Addiction by Design (2012), players describe losing their sense of time, space, body and money in it.

What was the name of the pinball game that gave Bally its name in 1932?

Bally took its name from Ballyhoo, the pinball game Raymond Moloney's company launched in 1932; the firm later dominated slot manufacturing.

Which English city was chosen to host the UK's planned 'Super Casino' before the project was scrapped?

Manchester was picked in January 2007 to host Britain's single regional 'super casino'; the plan was dropped in 2008 after Gordon Brown became prime minister, so no Category A machines were ever licensed.

In UK regulation, what does the fruit-machine abbreviation AWP stand for?

AWP stands for 'amusement with prize(s)', the regulatory term for fruit machines in pubs and arcades; Category C AWPs must return at least 70% of stakes to players.

What term do researchers use for slot outcomes that pay back less than the wager but still trigger celebration?

Researchers call these 'losses disguised as wins': Mike Dixon's University of Waterloo studies found they raised players' arousal as much as genuine wins did.