Industry News
White paper: The Past and Future of the Slot Machine

If you went into a bar in the late 1800s in or around New York City, it might have been called, The Burnt Rag, Milligan’s Hell or even, Chick Tricker’s Flea Bag. You could have had a punch made of hot rum, whiskey, camphor, benzene and cocaine, and had a better than average chance of finding a gambling machine created by a New York based company called, Sittman and Pitt. The machine was basic but innovative for the time and allowed for a chance to win prizes like free cigars and drinks.
The machine contained five drums carrying 50 cards, cost a nickel to play, and was based on the math and the concept of poker. Most establishments hosting one of these machines would literally discard two cards to tilt the odds in favor of the house, and none of these machines had a way to directly pay winners.
The exact date is up for debate, but around this time an inventor named Charles Augustus Fey is credited with the next evolutionary step in slot machines – automatic payouts at the machine. He accomplished this by reducing the complexity of the five drums and 50 cards, to three reels and five symbols: spades, horseshoes, diamonds, hearts and the image of a liberty bell. This is what gave the machine the name Liberty Bell.
By most accounts, these two developments were the opening chapters of the modern-day slot machine. Clearly, the story didn’t end there as there are few industries in which a single image is so iconic as the slot machine is to the casino industry.
Click here to read the full white paper
about BMM:
BMM is the longest established and most experienced private independent gaming certification lab in the world, providing professional technical and regulatory compliance services to the gaming industry since 1981.
At its core, BMM is a systems-expert company that has provided consulting for and tested many of the largest gaming networks and systems over the last 36 years. In addition, BMM has been successfully testing and certifying the full scope of Class III casino products for over two decades.
BMM authored the first set of independent gaming standards in 1992 and the first set of online gaming standards in 2001.
BMM employs some 325 people in 14 global locations and serves over 440 jurisdictions.
BMM’s world headquarters are in Las Vegas (USA), with offices in Mexico City (Mexico), Lima (Peru), Melbourne and Sydney (Australia), Singapore, Macau (SAR, China), Moncton (Canada), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Barcelona (Spain), Vienna (Austria), Bologna (Italy), Midrand (South Africa) and Bucharest (Romania).
For more information on BMM Testlabs, please visit bmm.com
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