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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.
A big mistake that a lot of people make when they first start playing slots
is neglecting to set a finite amount of money for each session of play. A session
of play could be a night, a day, an hour, or a week! However long you plan to
be playing slots you should always set a limit that you are willing to LOSE
and stick to it. Once you hit that limit DON'T GO OVER! Playing slots is a game
for Adults. If you don't have the self control and discipline to set a limit
and not spend over it then you don't deserve to play. That may sound harsh but
it's the truth. This is your livelihood your toying with, and if you're not
responsible with your money your livelihood could go down the drain. It happens
every day. So do yourself a favor and don't let it happen to you. Every time
you plan to visit a casino take the time to sit down and figure out how much
you can afford to lose. If you're going on a holiday then budget an amount for
the week. If you're just going for a night then budget an amount for the night.
There is no rule for how much is right, but the best way to think of it is,
how much you would spend on a normal night out, or a normal weekend outside
of the casino. If you would normally sped $100 out with friends outside of a
casino in a night, then set your casino limit for the night at $100. Once you
set this amount you can either do one of two things: you can sit down prior
to going to the casino and budget out how you're going to spend the money, in
other words on what games. The other way is to wait until you go to the casino
and just spend as you go. This method is a little more risky because it's easier
to lose track of how much you're spending. The best way to spend as you go is
to take out your entire bankroll for that evening as soon as you get to the
casino. Spend only that cash, then, when you run out you know for sure that
it's time to quit.
As an added money management tool some people like to actually keep a pen and
notepad with them throughout the night, and will actually record ho much money
they are spending on each game. When they win they write it down-when they lose
they write it down. Micromanaging your budget this way can be a very smart way
of deciding what slots games you want to play throughout your session. For instance
if you see that you are losing money a little faster then you normally would
on a certain progressive game, then you might consider switching to a flat top
game with fewer reels.
No mater how wealthy you are there is no excuse for playing slots without setting
a budget, even the richest Arab Sheiks have the good sense to set limits. If
you really like to play slots it's the only way to ensure you can continue to
play on into the future.
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An online slot operates in much the same manner as the machines found
in today's casinos. They're all reliant on a random number generator
(RNG). In the casino, the RNG is built into the machine; online, it's
written into the programming.
The number of "reels" and the number of coins a player inserts determines
the overall payback of any machine. In days gone by, randomness was limited
by physical technology. However, with computerized number generators
there's another fly in the ointment in that the programmer can write
the script for any payback percentage.
This might make a player wary of computerized and/or online slot machines
but the truth is, if the programmer creates a script that pays few winners,
players will either lose all their money or quit playing in frustration.
This leads to casino losses in the long run. Therefore, programs are
written to provide balanced outcomes based on a payback percentage.
Payback percentage is simply what the machine can be expected to return
to players in the long run. For example, a machine set at 96 percent
should return 96 cents out of every dollar. The house gets to keep 4
cents. This doesn't mean you will get 96 cents back for every dollar
you play. You might get less or more or you could hit the jackpot and
get much, much more than your dollar. What's important to understand
is the expression "long term."
The RNG is coordinated with the symbols on the machine to produce a
96 percent payback after thousands of thousands of tries. So, in essence,
your own payback percentage will depend on one thing and one thing only-luck.
Even if a program is set to pay 50 percent, if you are in the right place
at the right time, you could realize a profit.
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Food Fight!
is a 5-reel bonus game 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. It may be played in denominations of 1¢, 5¢,
25¢, 50¢, $1, and $5. 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 food icons on any of the nine pay lines.
Receive three pieces of an ice cream cone sundae (ice cream cone,
ice cream and ice cream topping) and watch them combine to give
you a bonus win! Get three pieces of a pie (Pie Plate, Pie Filling
and Cherry) anywhere on your screen and enter the food fight
bonus round, where you can finally get revenge on those people
from your past. Choose your victim, and when you’ve selected
your target, just click on the “hand” holding the pie
to let the splattering begin. You win the coins for each person
that you hit. Once you miss, the bonus game is over and you keep
the bonus that you have won thus far. The amount you win is dependent
on the total amount of coins you have played, so the more coins
you bet, the more you can win. 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. Line up five pudding symbols
on any active pay line and win the progressive jackpot.
Big Top is a
five reel, nine payline, and nine coin slot machine. The multiple
paylines increase your chances of winning. Big Top Slots has
a wild symbol, and a scatter symbol.
The Wild Clown symbol is wild. This means that it substitutes
for any other symbol to complete a winning combination, except
the Scatter Monkey symbol. The Scatter Monkey symbol is a scatter
symbol. This means that it does not need to appear in a line
on an enabled payline to win. It can be scattered anywhere on
the five reels, provided three or more Scatter Monkey symbols
appear. Note: For every coin that you bet, you enable another
payline. You are paid out for winning combinations on enabled
paylines only, except for Scatter wins. The Scatter Monkey symbol
can appear in any position on the reels. The Wild Clown symbol
cannot complete a scatter symbol combination.
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