The history of video slots, where it began and where it is heading.
Video slots were available in the mid seventies although antiquated we have come a long way with faster processors and ram …… read on
We have all heard of the various names video slots have been labeled over the years and their evolution as we now know them. Over the years they have been called One armed bandits, poker machines, fruit machines, jackpot machines, pokies and video pokies, no matter how we label them they have been a great source of entertainment for the young and old alike over many generations.
So, have you ever sat down and thought who invented the One armed bandit (video slots? ) the early one armed bandits had a real feel to them and were a jumble of cogs, wires and complex mechanisms all working as one to take your hard earned coin. Some individuals would say “I have a feel for that machine” which is understandable as the wheels, reels, tumblers including the spin lever all had varying degrees of wear over the years and each machine did in fact have a different feel to others depending on how much work they had done out on the casino floor which has now replaced them with video slots machines.
Back in the early days of these wonderful old machines the odds ratio could be manipulated by unscrupulous owners by way of “tooth filing” so as when the reels come to rest at their “stopped” position the exact tooth on each reel when lined up for a jackpot would be filed on a different angle so as when and if the jackpot lined up the chances were if the machine did come to a halt on all three reels on a jackpot the reels had a greater chance of “skipping” that tooth and dropping the next icon on the jackpot icon above thus increasing the owners revenue, things are a bit different now with video slots.
The one armed bandits also of course had an advantage as to the number of “icons” on the machines reels, obviously the jackpot reels jackpot icon being a lower percentage on the reels as opposed to other common non payout/ low payout icons this of course increased the chances of a loss from the punter and a win for “the house” video slots are set up in a similar fashion, of course video slots are not mechanical, video slots are software driven with very few mechanical moving parts.
So, how do video slots work? video slots work in a similar fashion to one armed bandits the principle is the same and as mentioned above, video slots are not mechanical like the old one armed bandits, the principle is the same meaning they are designed to entertain and excite the senses and video slots machines certainly do that. A slot machine has what they call a “pay schedule” we have all seen wonderful slot machines that look and feel as though they pay a little more often then the old Cleopatra slots (used as an example only) down the other isle this is all set in the video slots machines “pay schedule” this is something the old one armed bandits dident have.
A video slots machines “pay schedule” as we sit down to a video slots machine and press that little magic button little do many of us know that the very moment that button has been pressed that that video slots machine already knows what the reel alignment will be ultimately and this is determined by the computer that drives the video slots machine random number generator.
So, how to beat slot machines? how to beat slot machines is an easy question to answer, and that is it’s all a game of luck, the dishonesty of the earlier days is pretty much gone and video slot machines are heavily regulated although there are still crime syndicates operating that are highly organized and actually go to the degree of hiring electronics experts to go over video slots machines and look for any little thing that may help these criminal gangs get the upper hand.
Criminal organizations will actually go to the lengths to buy the latest release video slots machine so it can be disassembled and studied, so that’s a little rundown on the “seedy” side of video slots machines 😉 There are many that claim to have written software and books that will help you win at pokies but it is my personal opinion that they are not worth the paper or cd they are written on, personally I think the only way of increasing your chances at winning on slot machines is luck and also the type of establishment on where these video slots machines are played which I will cover in part two of my writeup on slot machines “A bricks and mortar casino or an online casino?”
