Editing Slot machine (section)

==History==
[[File:Liberty bell.jpg|thumb|1899 "Liberty Bell" machine, manufactured by Charles Fey]]
[[File:Liberty Bell slot machine 2012-09-15 16-50-38.jpg|thumb|Plaque marking the location of [[Charles Fey]]'s San Francisco workshop, where he invented the three-reel slot machine. The location is a [[California Historical Landmark]].]]
Sittman and Pitt of [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]], developed a gambling machine in 1891 that was a precursor to the modern slot machine. It contained five drums holding a total of 50 card faces and was based on [[poker]]. The machine proved extremely popular, and soon many [[Bar (establishment)|bars]] in the city had one or more of them. Players would insert a [[Nickel (United States coin)|nickel]] and pull a lever, which would spin the drums and the cards that they held, the player hoping for a good poker hand. There was no direct payout mechanism, so a [[Glossary of poker terms|pair of kings]] might get the player a free beer, whereas a [[Glossary of poker terms|royal flush]] could pay out cigars or drinks; the prizes were wholly dependent upon what the establishment would offer. To improve the odds for the house, two cards were typically removed from the [[Playing card|deck]], the ten of [[Spades (suit)|spades]] and the [[Jack (playing card)|jack of hearts]], doubling the [[odds]] against winning a royal flush. The drums could also be rearranged to further reduce a player's chance of winning.

Because of the vast number of possible wins in the original poker-based game, it proved practically impossible to make a machine capable of awarding an automatic payout for all possible winning combinations. At some time between 1887 and 1895,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.slot-machine-resource.com/slot-machine-history.htm|title=History of Slot Machines|website=Slot-machine-resource.com}}</ref> [[Charles Fey]] of [[San Francisco]], California, devised a much simpler automatic mechanism<ref>{{cite web|url=http://casinogambling.about.com/od/slots/a/charlesfey.htm|title=Charles Fey article|publisher=Casinogambling.about.com|date=2009-06-22|access-date=2009-08-04|archive-date=2009-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226234852/http://casinogambling.about.com/od/slots/a/charlesfey.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> with three spinning reels containing a total of five symbols: [[horseshoe]]s, [[Diamonds (suit)|diamonds]], spades, [[Hearts (suit)|hearts]] and a [[Liberty Bell]]; the bell gave the machine its name. By replacing ten cards with five symbols and using three reels instead of five drums, the complexity of reading a win was considerably reduced, allowing Fey to design an effective automatic payout mechanism. Three bells in a row produced the biggest payoff, ten nickels (50¢). Liberty Bell was a huge success and spawned a thriving mechanical gaming device industry. After a few years, the devices were banned in California, but Fey still could not keep up with the demand for them elsewhere. The Liberty Bell machine was so popular that it was copied by many slot machine manufacturers. The first of these, also called the "Liberty Bell", was produced by the manufacturer Herbert Mills in 1907. By 1908, "bell" machines had been installed in cigar stores, brothels and barber shops.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Long, Colorful, Profitable History of Slot Machines|url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/gallery/photo/long-colorful-profitable-history-slot-machines-55000|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130064559/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/gallery/photo/long-colorful-profitable-history-slot-machines-55000|archive-date=January 30, 2014|access-date=2016-07-18|publisher=The Indian Observer}}</ref> Early machines, including an 1899 Liberty Bell, are now part of the Nevada State Museum's Fey Collection.<ref>{{cite web|title=CM-5716-P-06 Machine, Slot|url=http://www.nevadaculture.org/museums/new_exhibits/cc-slot_machines/exhibit1/e10007a.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001120708/http://www.nevadaculture.org/museums/new_exhibits/cc-slot_machines/exhibit1/e10007a.html|archive-date=October 1, 2015|access-date=2015-09-18|website=Nevada State Museum}}</ref>

The first Liberty Bell machines produced by [[Mills Novelty Company|Mills]] used the same symbols on the reels as did Charles Fey's original. Soon afterward, another version was produced with patriotic symbols, such as [[flag]]s and [[wreath]]s, on the wheels. Later, a similar machine called the Operator's Bell was produced that included the option of adding a [[Chewing gum|gum]]-vending attachment. As the gum offered was fruit-flavored, fruit symbols were placed on the reels: [[lemon]]s, [[cherry|cherries]], [[orange (fruit)|oranges]] and [[plum]]s. A bell was retained, and a picture of a stick of Bell-Fruit Gum, the origin of the bar symbol, was also present. This set of symbols proved highly popular and was used by other companies that began to make their own slot machines: [[Caille Bros.|Caille]], Watling, [[Jennings & Company|Jennings]] and Pace.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fey|first=Marshall|date=1983|title=Slot Machines A Pictorial History of the First 100 Years|publisher=[[Liberty Belle Books]]|isbn=0-9623852-7-1}}</ref>

A commonly used technique to avoid gambling laws in several states was to award food prizes. For this reason, several [[gumball machine|gumball]] and other [[vending machine]]s were regarded with mistrust by the courts. The two [[Iowa]] cases of ''State v. Ellis''<ref>200 Iowa 1228, 206 N.W. 105. (Iowa, 1925).</ref> and ''State v. Striggles''<ref>202 Iowa 1318, 210 N.W. 137. (Iowa, 1926).</ref> are both used in [[criminal law]] classes to illustrate the concept of reliance upon authority as it relates to the axiomatic ''[[ignorantia juris non excusat]]'' ("ignorance of the law is no excuse").<ref>Singer, Richard G. ''[http://wings.buffalo.edu/law/bclc/bclrarticles/3(2)/singer.pdf The Proposed Duty to Inquire as Affected by Recent Criminal Law Decisions in the United States Supreme Court]''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219143750/http://wings.buffalo.edu/law/bclc/bclrarticles/3%282%29/singer.pdf |date=2008-12-19 }}. 24 April 2000.</ref> In these cases, a [[Mint (candy)|mint]] vending machine was declared to be a gambling device because the machine would, by internally manufactured chance, occasionally give the next user several tokens exchangeable for more candy. Despite the display of the result of the next use on the machine, the courts ruled that "[t]he machine appealed to the player's propensity to gamble, and that is [a] vice."<ref>''State v. Ellis''. 200 Iowa 1228, 206 N.W. 105. (Iowa, 1925). (citing to ''Ferguson v. State of Indiana'', 178 Ind. 568, 99 N. E. 806 (1912); ''City of Moberly v. Deskin'', 169 Mo. App. 672, 155 S. W. 842. (1913).)</ref>

In 1963, [[Bally Manufacturing|Bally]] developed the first fully electromechanical slot machine called Money Honey (although earlier machines such as Bally's High Hand draw-poker machine had exhibited the basics of electromechanical construction as early as 1940). Its electromechanical workings made Money Honey the first slot machine with a bottomless hopper and automatic payout of up to 500 coins without the help of an attendant.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bally Technologies, Inc. &#124; Company Information|url=http://ballytech.com/company-information|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930001018/http://ballytech.com/company-information|archive-date=September 30, 2009|access-date=2009-08-04|publisher=Ballytech.com}}</ref> The popularity of this machine led to the increasing predominance of [[electronic game]]s, with the side lever soon becoming vestigial.

The first video slot machine was developed in 1976 in [[Kearny Mesa, San Diego|Kearny Mesa, California]] by the Las Vegas–based Fortune Coin Co. This machine used a modified {{convert|19|in|cm|adj=on}} [[Trinitron|Sony Trinitron]] color receiver for the display and logic boards for all slot-machine functions. The prototype was mounted in a full-size, show-ready slot-machine cabinet. The first production units went on trial at the [[Las Vegas Hilton Hotel]]. After some modifications to defeat cheating attempts, the video slot machine was approved by the Nevada State Gaming Commission and eventually found popularity on the [[Las Vegas Strip]] and in downtown casinos. Fortune Coin Co. and its video slot-machine technology were purchased by [[International Game Technology (1975–2015)|IGT]] (International Gaming Technology) in 1978.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}}

The first American video slot machine to offer a "second screen" bonus round was Reel 'Em In, developed by [[WMS Industries]] in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.casinocenter.com/?p=834|title=HALL OF FAME IN SLOT GAMES : Casino Player Magazine – Strictly Slots Magazine – Casino Gambling Tips|work=casinocenter.com|date=10 April 2010 }}</ref> This type of machine had appeared in Australia from at least 1994 with the Three Bags Full game.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=3-bags-full&page=detail&id=5056|title=3 Bags Full|work=arcade-history.com}}</ref> With this type of machine, the display changes to provide a different game in which an additional payout may be awarded.