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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.
Mermaids Millions slot is a 15 line video slot with an adventurous sunken Treasure theme, a wild symbol, a scatter symbol, and two Bonus Features. You can bet up to 5 coins on each of the 15 paylines, making the maximum wager per spin up to 75 coins. Scatter wins will trigger the Free Spins feature where all wins are Tripled. The Treasure Bonus game will give you a chance to retreive sunken treasure from the ocean floor where treasure chests, barrels and clams are scattered.
The Neptune symbol is a wild symbol, this means it substitutes for other symbols to complete winning combinations. The Neptune symbol does not substitute for the Mermaid symbol to complete scatter winning combinations. Or the Treasure Bonus symbol to trigger the bonus game. Note: Multiple Neptune symbols on an enabled payline create Neptune winning combinations. The Mermaid 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 two or more Mermaid symbols appear.
Mermaids Millions has two Bonus Features, the Free Spins bonus game and the Treasure bonus game. Three or more Mermaid symbols scattered anywhere on the five reels activate the Free Spins bonus game. Three or more Treasure Bonus symbols displayed in a line on an enabled payline activate the Treasure bonus game. Three or more Mermaid symbols displayed on the reels activates the Free Spins bonus game, and you are awarded ten free spins. All the bets and paylines played in the ten free spins are the same as the spin that triggered the Free Spins bonus game. All wins during the ten free spins are tripled. If three or more Mermaid symbols are scattered on the reels during a Free Spins bonus game, you are awarded another ten free spins. The extra ten free spins are added to the remaining number of free spins.
Gladiators Gold is a three reel, three payline, and
three coin slot machine. The multiple paylines increase
your chances of winning. There are no wild symbols
and the maximum payout is 4,000 coins.
For every coin that you bet, you enable another
payline. You are paid out for winning combinations
on enabled paylines only.
The number of games and manufacturers of coin-operated machines are
almost end less. Choose from slot, gumball, cigar, music, clocks, cash
registers, pinball, gun, and weigh machines, horse gaming and golf,
to name a few. Slot authoritarian, Marshall Fey, author of "Slot
Machines:
A Pictoral History of the First 100 Years," said the slot machine
mushroomed into a premier collectible after 1976, the year that California
legalized antique slot machine collecting. Many states have since followed
suit.
Robert Levy of Pennsauken, N.J., who has more than 250 antique slots,
said he collects because "they increase in value every year. They
are a good investment, very entertaining, they make wonderful banks,
and they will never be made again." His oldest is dated 1893. Levy,
who is for two price guides in the U.S. and one in England, said he
has bought and sold slot machines for 14 years. For some collectors,
"seek and find" offers the most enjoyment. The rare ones are
difficult to locate because many of them were taken to the city dump
and are lost forever. Some collectors like the "thrill" of
owning an illegal item.
Not every state condones ownership of a slot machine, and some states
require that it be a certain age before it can be sold. Levy said the
Attorney General's office of each state regulates the sale of slot machines,
and it is best to check with that office before buying. Cosmetic changes
over the years are not the only consequences of the modern world of
gaming. "With the old machines, you played one coin at a time and
it paid on the center line.
You could have fun playing and watching and waiting for the symbols
to come up. Today's electronic slots play up to 60 lines at one time;
they will take $100 dollar bills and will, geometrically, take money
unbelieveably quicker. You can sit down and in a matter of seconds,
your money is gone, and so is the fun of the game.
The ones that play up to 60 lines let the casino take in less on each
pull, but it (the casino) makes more money in the long run," Levy
said.
Click below pictures to see some vintage machine pictures we collected,
.
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