The slot machine has many different names and takes many different forms but the basic idea is the same, be it American slots, Aussie pokies, or the British fruit machine.

 

 

The very first slots machines were basically used as toys, a sort of complicated gum dispenser. It wasn’t long though before the money make potential of this machine was realized. The earliest machines were huge. This was primarily because the mechanical inner workings of the machines were large and complex. This was all changed in the 1960s though, when the first electronic machines were introduced. These machines still had reels that spun around, but now the randomness of the spins was determined by a microchip, rather than the bulky gears that determined the outcome of spins on early machines. Without the need for so much space to store the machines, casinos could now offer a wider variety of games. In the mid-1990s there were two more big advancements for slot machines. These were the emergence of video slots and the advent of the online casino. These types of slots games are actually pretty much the same, the only real difference is that one is physically in a casino and the other is online. With these new kinds of slots there are generally things like animations and bonus rounds. Without the need for physical reels, game makers are now free to do make much more exciting and creative types of games.