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Who Invented the Slot Machine? A Short History
Charles Fey's 1895 Liberty Bell started it. Here is how slot machines moved from gum-vending fruit reels to video screens, RNG chips and online casinos.
Charles August Fey, a mechanic in San Francisco, invented the coin-operated, three-reel slot machine in 1895, according to California’s official historical landmark record. His Liberty Bell paid 50 cents for three bells and set the reel design that slot machines still copy.
In short
The slot machine has a 130-year history in five steps. Sittman and Pitt built a five-drum poker machine in Brooklyn in the early 1890s. Charles Fey’s three-reel Liberty Bell followed in San Francisco in 1895 and paid out automatically. Herbert Mills added fruit symbols in 1907. Bally’s Money Honey (1963) went electromechanical, Fortune Coin (1976) went video, and Inge Telnaes’s 1984 patent tied reel stops to a random number generator. Online slots arrived after Antigua and Barbuda began licensing internet casinos in 1994.
Who invented the slot machine?
Charles August Fey invented the first coin-operated, three-reel slot machine in San Francisco in 1895. California made the site State Historical Landmark No. 937 in 1981. Fey built Liberty Bell machines at 406 Market Street from 1897 until the 1906 earthquake and fire.
The Liberty Bell had three reels and five symbols: horseshoes, diamonds, spades, hearts and a cracked Liberty Bell. Three bells paid the top prize of ten nickels, or 50 cents. The key change was the automatic payout. Earlier machines needed a bartender to hand out the prize, while Fey’s machine dropped coins into a tray by itself.
Editor’s insight
The exact year of Fey’s invention is disputed. Secondary histories give dates anywhere between 1887 and 1899, while the State of California’s landmark record states 1895. When two dates conflict, we follow the official record that names its basis, and we treat any article quoting a single precise day as unverified. The same rule helps with modern slot facts: a provider’s own game sheet beats a fan site’s summary.
What came before Fey’s Liberty Bell?
Before the Liberty Bell, the firm Sittman and Pitt built a poker-based gambling machine in Brooklyn in the early 1890s. The machine used five drums holding 50 playing-card faces. A player inserted a nickel, pulled a lever and hoped for a strong hand.
The Sittman and Pitt machine had no payout mechanism. The number of possible poker hands was too large to automate, so the bar paid prizes such as a free beer or a cigar. Fey solved the problem by cutting the game to three reels and five symbols, which made every winning combination easy to read mechanically.
Where do fruit symbols and the BAR come from?
Fruit symbols come from chewing gum. Herbert Mills produced a Liberty Bell copy in 1907, and a later model, the Operator Bell, added a gum vending attachment. Cherries, lemons, oranges and plums matched gum flavours, and the BAR copied a Bell-Fruit Gum logo.
The fruit set also explains the British name fruit machine, which Encyclopaedia Britannica lists next to one-armed bandit and poker machine. The three-reel layout, the fruit symbols and the BAR all date from the period between 1895 and 1910, more than 110 years ago.
How did slot machines become electric and then video?
Slot machines became electromechanical in 1963, when Bally released Money Honey with a bottomless hopper that paid up to 500 coins without an attendant. Video slots followed in 1976, when Fortune Coin Co. built a machine with a modified 19-inch Sony Trinitron screen.
The table lists the main hardware milestones. Each one removed a physical limit on how big or how frequent prizes could be.
| Year | Machine or event | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Early 1890s | Sittman and Pitt poker machine | Five drums, 50 card faces, prizes paid by the bar |
| 1895 | Charles Fey’s Liberty Bell | Three reels, five symbols, automatic coin payout |
| 1907 | Mills Liberty Bell copy | Fruit symbols and BAR via gum vending |
| 1963 | Bally Money Honey | Electromechanical, hopper pays up to 500 coins |
| 1976 | Fortune Coin video slot | First video slot, trialled at the Las Vegas Hilton |
| 1978 | IGT buys Fortune Coin | Video technology moves to a large manufacturer |
| 1984 | US Patent 4,448,419 (Telnaes) | Random number generator selects reel stops |
After the Las Vegas Hilton trial, Nevada approved the Fortune Coin machine and it spread along the Las Vegas Strip. International Game Technology (IGT) bought Fortune Coin and its technology in 1978. Our guide on how slots work explains how modern video slots evolved from these machines.
How did random number generators change slot odds?
Random number generators changed slot odds by separating the result from the physical reel. US Patent 4,448,419, filed by Inge S. Telnaes in 1982 and granted on 15 May 1984, assigns each reel stop one or more numbers and draws the result electronically.
The patent abstract states that this lets operators set “any odds” without changing the machine. The arithmetic shows why that mattered:
- A physical reel with 20 stops gives 20 × 20 × 20 = 8,000 combinations, so a single jackpot line can be no rarer than 1 in 8,000.
- A virtual reel with 256 stops gives 256 × 256 × 256 = 16,777,216 combinations.
- With one jackpot combination on 256-stop virtual reels, the jackpot odds become 1 in 16,777,216, which allows far larger top prizes.
The patent was assigned to IGT in 1989 and has since expired. Every modern slot, land-based or online, uses a random number generator in this way. The RTP is set in the maths model, not by the reels you see.
When did slot machines move online?
Slot machines moved online in 1994, when Antigua and Barbuda passed the Free Trade and Processing Act and began licensing internet casinos. Regulators followed: the Kahnawake Gaming Commission formed in 1996, and Great Britain passed the Gambling Act 2005 to license remote gambling.
The history of online gambling since then is mostly a history of laws. The key dates are:
- 1994: Antigua and Barbuda licenses the first online casinos.
- 1996: the Kahnawake Gaming Commission starts regulating from the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake in Canada.
- 2001: Australia passes the Interactive Gambling Act on 28 June.
- 2005: Great Britain passes the Gambling Act 2005.
- 2006: the US Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is signed on 13 October.
- 2022: Ontario’s regulated online casino market opens in April.
Our pillar on online gambling laws around the world explains how these regulatory models work today.
Important
A slot’s history does not change its maths. Every modern slot has a built-in house edge, and no betting pattern changes the random number generator. Online slots are legal only where a licence allows them, and you should check the operator’s licence before you deposit. If gambling stops being fun, use the tools on our responsible gambling page.
Our take
The Liberty Bell’s lasting idea was not the bell symbol. It was the automatic payout, which turned a bar novelty into a self-running business. Every later step, from the 500-coin hopper to the 16.7 million-combination virtual reel, served the same goal: bigger prizes, more spins and less staff. That history is useful to players. It shows that the reels you see have been decoration since 1984 and that the odds sit in software. Before you play a slot, read its RTP and volatility, not its theme. Our pillar on how to win at slots covers what you can and cannot influence.
Key takeaways
- Charles Fey invented the three-reel slot in San Francisco in 1895, per California Landmark No. 937.
- The Liberty Bell paid 50 cents (ten nickels) for three bells.
- Bally’s Money Honey (1963) paid up to 500 coins automatically.
- Fortune Coin built the first video slot in 1976; IGT bought it in 1978.
- Telnaes’s 1984 patent made 256-stop virtual reels possible: 16,777,216 combinations.
- Online casinos began in 1994 under Antigua and Barbuda’s Free Trade and Processing Act.
FAQ
Who invented the slot machine?
Charles August Fey invented the coin-operated, three-reel slot machine in San Francisco in 1895, according to California Historical Landmark No. 937.
What was the first slot machine called?
Fey’s machine was called the Liberty Bell, after its top symbol. Three bells paid ten nickels.
Why are slots called fruit machines?
Herbert Mills’s 1907 machines and later gum-vending models used fruit symbols that matched the gum flavours, and the name stuck in Britain.
When was the first video slot made?
Fortune Coin Co. built the first video slot machine in 1976 and trialled it at the Las Vegas Hilton.
When did online slots start?
Online casinos, and with them online slots, started after Antigua and Barbuda passed its Free Trade and Processing Act in 1994.
Sources
- California Office of Historic Preservation: Site of Invention of the Three-Reel Bell Slot Machine (Landmark No. 937)
- US Patent 4,448,419 (Inge S. Telnaes): Electronic gaming device utilizing a random number generator
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Slot machine
- Wikipedia: Slot machine (history section)
- Wikipedia: Online gambling (history section)
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