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All you need to know about the history of the slot machine

Millions of us enjoy hitting the slots. From classics like Starburst and Cleopatra to new movie tie-ins like Jumanji and Ted, you’ll find hundreds and hundreds of slot games available on your smartphone today at online casinos like Vegas Luck. But how did our love of slots come about?

It all began in the late 19th century, with a man named Charles Fey. He unveiled the world’s first slot machine in 1895. Named the Liberty Bell, it weighed over 100 pounds and had just 3 reels displaying diamond, spade, heart, horseshoe and bell symbols.

The Liberty Bell proved hugely popular in the bars of Fey’s hometown of San Francisco, so much so that it wasn’t long before copycat machines started popping up across America. These slot machines became more advanced with new technological discoveries. By the time we hit the 1960s, we had an electromechanical slot. By the 1970s, we had video slots with built in TV screens.

Arguably the biggest moment in the slot machine’s history came in the mid-1990s, when slots moved online. Online slots could provide gamblers all around the world with more reels, more paylines and more bonus features than ever before. The popularity of online slots continues to this day, with new titles constantly being released to satisfy our need to spin.

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