Slots and pokies are some of the oldest gambling games in the modern world. They saw their beginnings at the start of the 20th century, and also have attracted a vast audience ever since. Here is an overview of slot machine history and how they have developed in recent times.

The very first ever version of the slot machine was seen in 1891. Pittman and Sachs created a machine with five drums, each showing poker hand symbols. When players would win at these games, the machine wouldn’t pay out; rather, the bar housing them would provide players with drinks.

It might be four more years before Charles Fey would create the version of the slot machine with which we have been most acquainted today. The machine provided players with cash payouts when it revealed matching symbols. The recognition of these games caught on quickly, until anti-gambling groups enacted a ban on slot machines within the early twentieth century.

The ban only lasted a couple of years, and it wasn’t long before slots became popular again in casinos. It was during the 1950s that slot machines started to become popular across the world. In 1953, Australian gaming company Aristocrat took note of the new trend and decided to manufacture its own brand of electronic gaming machines called pokies. The company’s first machine was called the ‘Clubman’.

Even though it could be a long time before we would see online slots, casinos in Las Vegas started making electronic slot machines, moving away from the common, mechanical slot games that had become popular in recent times. These machines were safer than mechanical slots and made it more difficult for individuals to cheat casinos. During this time, electronic slots also saw the invention of the random number generator which made playing slots even more unpredictable.

Over the next few decades, slots would remain the same. It would not be until the turn of the Century that we begin seeing the advent of online slots. The first online slots games were seen around 2001, when the first internet casinos went live. Companies like Microgaming got on the ground floor, creating several of the first great online slot gambling site slot machines available to the general public.

For the past a decade, slots have become some of the most common games at online casinos, together with making up over 80% of land-based casino revenue. Within the online world, players can find hundreds of different online slots games, many of which feature fun and inventive themes. Players also are able to find a wide variety of branded and themed slots games, featuring innovative gaming technology.