1990s: The Online Revolution
Slot Machines 5 Stars
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WMS Industries Inc. had been hovering around the slot machine industry for a few years, but by the 1990s they had grasped the video slot revolution by the horns.
WMS developed its first video slot with a second screen bonus. Reel 'Em In featured a fishing theme where players were able to trigger a Pick'em style bonus game. It paved the way for second screen bonuses like free spins for years to come.
A speedier and cheaper internet allowed online gambling manufacturers to start developing slots that could be played at home. Microgaming had already been operating an online casino since 1994 but launched Cash Splash in 1998, one of the world's first ever online progressive jackpot slots.
As broadband speeds and operating systems improved, the number of developers grew. Major players like NetEnt, Playtech, and Play'n GO all started up operations in the 1990s and continue to innovate and expand. Online games became slicker and became available to play through both download clients and via web browsers.
The humble and much-loved slot machine has changed drastically over the years. The first ever slot machine paid out just fifty cents – a far cry from many of today’s machines which can pay upwards of £1 million!
If you are somebody who thinks bigger is always better, and you love the prospect of a big pay-out, then taking your turn on humongous slot games could be just what the doctor ordered. If you are lucky enough to visit one, don’t forget to grab your memorable photo!
Bally’s Casino, Las Vegas
Originally manufactured as a novelty item, this super-slot machine is known as one of the biggest slot machines ever created. Powered by five horsepower electric motors, twenty-inch wide chain wheels, and each pull costing a whopping $100, you can see where the name ‘Big Bertha’ came from!
Bally’s Casino, Las Vegas
It will probably come as no surprise that Super Big Bertha was an upgrade to the aforementioned machine. This beast of a unit once took the crown as the world’s biggest slot machine in the 1950s. Eight reels featured 20 symbols each, returning a huge 25.6 billion possible combinations. With so many combinations, the chances of winning the $1 million jackpot were incredibly slim; in fact, you’d have to play the machine 15 billion times to be in with a chance! Despite the odds, players have won big money over the years, including one woman in 2001 who won the jackpot in an Ontario casino.
Four Queens Casino, Las Vegas
This humongous slot machine is exclusive to the Four Queens Casino, Las Vegas. Standing ten feet tall and nine feet wide, the Queen’s Machine can accommodate up to six players at any one time, and has a jackpot of $50,000. So gargantuan is this machine that several people have been injured while pulling down the giant spin arm! Maybe try stretching before you give it a go…
Wynn Casino, Las Vegas
Built using the Windows 95 operating system, you could be forgiven for thinking that MicroSpin was as small as its name suggests. In fact, at nine feet tall, it was the tallest slot machine in the world during the late 90s. Due to its complex core components, the MicroSpin was able to accommodate up to nine people at any one time. However, winners would have felt a little sore once they realised there were no cash prizes.
Barney’s Casino, Las Vegas
Situated in Barney’s Casino in Nevada, the mechanical behemoth ‘Big Irish Luck’ is a real crowd-pleaser. Five gigantic reels are complete with shamrocks, bells, oranges and four-leaf clovers!
Play slot games at Grosvenor Casinos; Star Lantern, Cleopatra and Isle O Plenty for mega jackpot pay-outs.
Have you visited any of these monoliths? Have we missed any out? Let us know in the comment section, below.
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