Slot machines have provided a popular way of gambling for many years, with the top payouts grabbing the attention of players. Yet, the way that their payouts have evolved has changed over the years, giving us bigger prizes and jackpots to aim for.
The Early Days
The first slot machines were simple, mechanical machines that had a small number of fixed payouts. We need to go back to 1894 to find the very first slot, named Liberty Bell. Its biggest payout was 50 cents when three bells landed on the payline, with the lowest win being five cents for a couple of horseshoes.
Some early slots paid non-cash prizes, with chewing gum and other types of candy among the objects that could be won. This connection can still be seen today in the way that fruits are used, while the popular BAR symbol is another image linked to the use of gum as prizes.
Jackpots and Bigger Payouts
The 20th century saw jackpots introduced, which gave players the chance to get bigger prizes. The first jackpot win came surprisingly early in the history of these machines, as the Mills Novelty Company created a game in 1916 where a certain combination of symbols caused the machine to simply spill out all of the coins that it held.
It wasn’t until the introduction of video slots towards the end of the 20th century that new ways of claiming a jackpot win were introduced. In 1986, the Megabucks slot from IGT introduced the idea of a jackpot that was linked across several of these machines, which didn’t even have to be located in the same casino to take part in the jackpot prize pool.
The Online Enhancements
If we look at the slot games offered in a current online jackpot casino, we can see how this sector has progressed. The list of progressive jackpots includes the Age of the Gods series of slots by Playtech, where the prize keeps growing every time someone plays one of these themed games and doesn’t win the top prize. A special bonus game is randomly triggered, with players who reach this stage asked to pick three matching coins to see what prize they get.
The Jackpot King series of slots from Blueprint Gaming has a different kind of mechanism. In this case, five crown symbols are needed to qualify for the bonus game. This leads to a bonus game where crowns are collected on a special set of reels. Collecting more wheels leads to the player climbing the prize ladder. Reach high enough and they can enter the Wheel King section, where the main jackpots can be won. Other online jackpot slots have simpler mechanisms that are similar to the original jackpot slots, paying out the jackpot when certain symbols randomly land.
The way that slot payouts have changed has introduced interesting new elements to these games. It’s now possible to play online and access a wide range of slots with different prizes and ways of accessing them.