Charles Fey, an American was the first to introduce the slot machine. He had a workshop in San Francisco from where he manufactured these slot machines. Even now his Liberty Bell slot machine is used in gaming devices. One of the oldest styled reels holding 20 symbols have evolved and got a new look with more sophistication. The new device has five spinning reels which can hold more than hundred symbols. Till 1930, slot machines were not that popular in America, but after that with their introduction to the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas, they slowly started gaining popularity. Initially these slot machines were introduced in Flamingo Hilton as a mode of entertainment for the girlfriends and wives of high rollers. But then within a short span of time they gained popularity and now it almost accounts to two third of the casino revenue in the USA.
In order to make the jackpot rare, the symbols are programmed into the computer. It is programmed in such a way that the pay out for jackpot is completely collected and at the same time the casino makes a profit out of it. Normally the payout will be anywhere from 83 to 98%. Right from the date of its origin, there has been strict regulation. In the year 1960, in the UK, it was decided that there should be some sort of skill involved in the game to make it legal.
When slot machines pay out coins, the first fruit machine had prizes in the form of alcohol and cigarettes. Fruit machines are found in large numbers in amusement arcades, pubs and motorway services. After the introduction of online fruit machines, their popularity is increasing rapidly.
Some of the important features of Fruit machine are hold buttons, nudge, cash ladder, gamble feature and bonus trail. These features need to be present for the machine to qualify as fruit machine. The hold button gives the player a better chance of winning as he or she can put a hold on one or more reels. With nudge facility, the player can move one or more reels to the next spin to show up on the payline. This will give the player a chance for better outcome. The feature of gambling is normally activated in the fruit machine only after every win. It allows the player to gamble for a higher or lower bet. The players have the option of double it or lose it.
Cash ladder is nothing but the player has to stop the flash that goes up and down. To win the biggest prize amount, the player has to hit stop close to the top. Bonus trail is one of the most interesting features. When the player hit spin, he or she is allowed to randomly choose a number which in turn make the trail square light up and move along the trail. In bonus trial, each square has something interesting. When you win, your winning will be doubled, tripled and there are chances for it to get multiplied 10 times also. With this you could win a set amount or raise the cash ladder to the maximum possible. With so many features available, it is worth trying online fruit machines.