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Surely when Charles Fey built his first slot machine in 1896 he never
could have envisioned where the contraption would travel and how it would
transmogrify. In fact, for a hundred years his innovation hardly changed
at all, except cosmetically. The external design, consisting of an ornate
metal box was wrapped around the mechanism and became fancier or plainer,
larger or smaller, in attempt to attract the eye. But as always, when
a player primed the machine with coins and pulled the handle, the reels
spun randomly and, governed by stoppers eventually came to a halt. Each
reel was decorated with a variety of symbols that, when matched according
to a pay schedule (printed somewhere on the face of the machine), the
player won; when no matching symbols appeared, the player lost.
Though Fey is given credit as the Father of the Slot Machine, prototypes
existed years before he came up with the idea of converting them into
gambling device--which he believed would enhance the profits on his sales
routes. These early "amusement devices" could be found in saloons where
polite society would not be exposed to them and where proprietors stood
on the edge of breaking the law.
These first apparatuses had a major drawback. They were designed in
such a way that after a certain number of coins were inserted the weight
of these coins would tip the scales and some of the stored coins from
previous play would spill out, thus providing a winner. It didn't take
long for street-smart players and wise guys to figure out that the coins
would come out automatically with a little pushing and shoving and slamming
the machine around. So it was back to the drawing board where clever
builders devised first a metal bar to help prevent "tilting," and then
came up with smaller devices that could be bolted to a counter top or
wall.
Meanwhile, in dignified establishments such as grocery stores and mercantiles,
a similar piece of equipment began popping up and being played by even
the snootiest of patrons. Called the trade simulator, this machine operated
much like other contemporary devices except that the winners produced
could be exchanged or traded for goods within the establishment--thus
the name "trade," perhaps a forerunner to the modern cents-off coupon.
Playing slots was (and is) both a tactile and sensory experience involving
the feel of the coins and the touch and pull of the handle. It involved
the sense of vision, the sense of hearing, and the innate sensation of
anticipation.
Winning and losing depended on a simple mechanism that included symbols
(usually fruit of some kind, perhaps bars and/or sevens, and of course
hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades, Fey's original choice) affixed to
the three reels and a shaft. With ten symbols per reel, the machine was
capable of a thousand possible combinations.
Oriental Fortune is a five reel, five payline, and
five coin slot machine. The multiple paylines increase
your chances of winning. It has a wild symbol and
the maximum payout is 5,000 coins.
For every coin that you bet, you enable another payline.
You are paid out for winning combinations on enabled
paylines only.
A payline is a 'line' on slot machine reels on which symbols must line up on in order to win. Some slot machines have only 1 payline, some have 3, others
have 5, 9 and even 15! Generally speaking, you must pay a coin to play each line on a machine, but have the option of
not playing all available lines.
So, on a 3 line machine, you can play the center line for one coin - the center line and the line above it for two coins - or all 3 lines for 3 coins. If
you don't play a specific line and a winning combination comes up on it - then you don't win.
Classic slot machines have 3 reels and only 1 line - a horizontal payline that goes through the middle of each reel. You may be able to wager more than
one coin per spin on these games - but the amount will apply to wins on the same payline. (You win more by betting more, but your chances of winning stay the same)
Other 3 reel slots often have three paylines, one in the middle, one above it, and one below it. Betting 1 coin activates the middle payline, betting 2 coins opens up 2 paylines, and
3 coins plays all 3 lines on a spin.
5 reel slot machines typically have quite a few paylines, from 5 to 15. These paylines aren't necessarily straight lines - there's diagonal matches and lines
that actually bend. How the lines go differs from machine to machine, but the lines should be marked clearly on each game.
Mid-Life Crisis
is a 5-reel, system-wide Progressive Slot machine. To view the
pay table you must click on the “Pay Table” button
located next to the red “Cash Out” button on the lower
left side of the machine. The progressive jackpot total is displayed
on the bottom of the machine, between your balance and the chips,
and re-starts at $25,000 every time the progressive jackpot is
won. This machine may only be played in the single denomination
of $.25. To play, put money in the machine by clicking on the
chips in the lower right corner and press “Bet Max.”
This will play the maximum bet (9 paylines and 45 coins), giving
you the maximum chance to win and automatically spins the reels.
If you’d like to play fewer lines or fewer coins per line,
just select the lines you want by using the “Select Lines”
and “Bet One” buttons. When you have the bet you’d
like, just press “Spin,” and wait for a win. Win by
lining up items on any of the nine paylines. Receive 5 “Sports
Cars” on any max pay line and you win the $100,000 sports
car super jackpot or $100,000 in cool hard cash! It is your choice!
There are two bonus rounds attainable in Mid-Life Crisis. Hit
three mid-life symbols (bald guy, toupee and gold chain) anywhere
on the screen and they will assemble to pay you a big money scatter
bonus. Or, hit three “lovely ladies” and you enter
the fountain of youth bonus round, where you can win up to 4,000
credits when you have bet with max coins and max paylines. Then
find where all the money is hiding. You will be presented with
“adventure ideas”, which is located on the left side
of the screen or the miracle youth tonic, which is located on
the right hand side of the screen. Keep choosing adventure ideas
until one of your “adventures” turns into funny symbol.
For example, one of the lovely ladies can turn into an older
woman or a baby. If you choose the Miracle Youth Tonic, all of
the wins will cycle through automatically, ending with a skeleton.
In each sub game, you will win an amount relative to your total
bet on the spin. All of the pays, with the exception of the bonus
game winners, are played from left to right. That means that
you win when you line up the icons starting from the leftmost
wheel. To see what each combination pays, just click on the “Pay
Table” button.
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