On August 8, 1893, Schultze had patented his own “coin-controlled apparatus,” called the “Horseshoe.” This was the first US patent issued for a gambling machine and was the first to somewhat resemble what we now know as a modern slot machine.
In 1897, Fey further staked his claim as the “Thomas Edison of slot machines,” when he devised the Card Bell slot machine, a “three-reel, staggered-stop machine with automatic payout.” Essentially, what it did was stagger the stops – first one reel, then the second, and then the third – just like modern slot machines, creating.

Slot machines dominate the online casino market in the modern age. Millions of punters enjoy gambling with online slots through their laptop, smartphone, tablet, etc. The advancement in computer and video technology has made slots one of the most popular gambling games of the 21st century, but where did it all begin? We take you back through the history of slot machines…

The first slot machine

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When were the first slot machines invented? Who invented the first slot machine?

The first slot machine was invented in 1891 by Sittman and Pitt in New York. The machine was originally based on the game of poker and held over 50 card faces. These machines would often attract a big crowd of people to watch as players inserted their coins and pulled the lever. The one big difference in the first slot machines was that they did not have the capability to pay-out cash instantly, so a good round would often win the player a drink at the bar instead.

In 1902, a man called Chris Fey developed the slot machine into a game where the lever would be pulled to reveal three symbols one by one – if the symbols matched a prize, the machine would pay-out your winnings in cash. Thus, was born the modern ideology of a slot machine today, and is key to understanding the history of slot machines…

Slot machine development

In 1963, Bally developed the first fully electromechanical slot machine, calling it Money Honey. The electromechanical structure allowed pay-outs of up to 500 coins without the help of an attendant in a casino, which is said to be the beginning of the rise in popularity of slot machine gambling.

One of the most notable moments in the history of slots is when the first video slot machine was introduced in a hotel in Las Vegas in 1976. Featuring a modified 19-inch Sony TV as a display screen, it was from here that the slot business took off in Las Vegas, and by the late 1970s every casino on the strip had their own video slot machines. The most popular slot machines were the fruit machines and one-armed bandits. Throughout the 80s and 90s, slot machines reached new levels of success with the addition of video technology.

Not limited by structural or mechanical problems, video slots took over the casino industry. Bonus rounds, additional pay-outs, and many other features were introduced as slots moved seamlessly with the progression of modern technology.

Online slots games

Since the late 1900s and just before the turn of the century, it is suggested that slots are responsible for over 70% of the casino industry income. Although the first casino games to be developed in an online format were poker and blackjack, slot machine games followed shortly after, and are now the most played UK online casino game. As online casino games and jackpot games progress year after year, there’s no limit to what the future of slots may hold.

If you’re interested in playing slots with Grosvenorcasinos.com, we have some great games including Lucky Ladies Charm, Fruitinator, Slots O’Gold, and many more. You can bet as low as 20p on some of our games, giving you the ability to manage how much you are betting in a safe and responsible manner.

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The story of the slot machine is one of intrigue, theft, controversy, and murder. Okay, not murder, but everything else. And it starts in Bavaria….

Sewing Machine Who Invented

Augustinus Charles Fey was the youngest of sixteen children born in 1862 in the small village of Vohringen, Bavaria which sits at the edge of the Alps. Early on, he displayed an interest in mechanics, following his brothers’ footsteps and working in a farm tool factory in Munich. At fifteen, August hit the road (apparently fearful of his strict father and not wanting to serve in the military) and walked across Europe. He stopped in France for about three years, working as an intercom equipment manufacturer, and then made his way to a British shipyard (approximately 750 miles and an English channel away from home), where he settled down for five years as a nautical instrument maker.

Several years before, August’s uncle (his mother’s brother) had moved to and settled in New Jersey. The family received letters from him talking of fortune and the good life America provided. So, August saved his money and made the pilgrimage to the United States. He arrived in New Jersey and lived with his uncle’s family in Hoboken (the birth place of baseball), but quickly made the decision to try his hand out west in the “lawless” town of San Francisco. He arrived there approximately in 1884/1885 at around 23 years old, right when the city was attempting to change itself, for better and worse.

In 2013, maps of San Francisco were uncovered from the late 19th century. These maps showed numerous gambling halls, opium dens, and brothels dotting the city, with each vice-ridden location color-coded on the maps. Despite this, little was done at this time by the local government and police force about these illegal establishments.

In this environment, Fey used his skills as a mechanic and found a job at California Electric Works (later Western Electric, which went defunct in 1995). He worked as an instrument maker and while doing this befriended a German foreman, Theodore Holtz, who will come into this story again later. It was also about this time that he met Marie Christine Volkmar, the daughter of a cigar shop owner, with whom he fell in love with.

Unfortunately, he contracted consumption, aka tuberculosis (see: Why Tuberculosis was Called Consumption), and hit the road again, this time for warmer weather in Mexico. While there, his health did not improve, so he returned to San Fran, thinking if he was going to die, it might as well be near the woman he loved. He miraculously got better (potentially due to the controversial use of creosote, obtained through the distillation of tar) and married Marie in 1889. They would go on to have four children together. To top off the metamorphosis going on in his life, August Charles Fey changed his name to Charles Fey, reportedly because he hated being called “Gus.”

At this point, Fey began tinkering with creating and inventing his own mechanical devices. Always a fan of making money, he frequented the gambling halls of San Francisco and noticed the so-called “nickel-in-the-slot” machines that were rapidly becoming popular. These machines were much closer to vending machines than to what we think of slot machines today, dispensing cigars or drink tickets. These also usually required a human, the cigar shop owner or barkeep, to give you your prize. The most popular ones were the poker machines that would actually flip real playing cards on five reels, revealing the hand. The better the hand, the more drink/cigar tickets you earned. These types of machines were so ubiquitous that a San Francisco Daily News headline noted, “Fiveteen Hundred Swindling Machines in One City!”

In 1893, Fey thought he could make a better gambling machine. His work friend Theodore Holtz introduced him to another German who was working at California Electric Works, Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Schultze. On August 8, 1893, Schultze had patented his own “coin-controlled apparatus,” called the “Horseshoe.” This was the first US patent issued for a gambling machine and was the first to somewhat resemble what we now know as a modern slot machine. In fact, some historians have argued that Schultz, not Fey, should be the one known as the “Thomas Edison of slot machines.” We will come back to that later. Either way, Fey was impressed and “inspired” by the Horseshoe and went to work on his own coin-controlled apparatus.

In 1894, Fey designed a version of the Horseshoe, quite simply the same machine, but with a better mechanical reel, and asked Holtz to be his equal business partner (and not Schultz.) Holtz agreed and they both quit their jobs at California Electric, setting up shop as “Holtz and Fey Electric Works” at 39 Stevenson Street. Purposefully, they positioned their shop close to Schultz’s shop, who had also quit his job to make gambling machines.

Who Invented Slot Machines And What Year