Classic Slots

Brief History of Slots

Slots, unlike many other online casino games that come with hundreds of years of existence in one form or another behind them, are quite new. The first gambling machine that is considered a precursor to the classic slot was developed by Sittman and Pitt and was based on poker. It was a machine with 5 drums that had enough space to hold 50 card faces. The machine was fun and easy to use and became very popular: all you had to do was pop in a nickel and pull the lever at the side to cause the drums to spin. You got paid out based on the poker hand you had.

However, the first actual slot machine was developed by Charles Fey in the 1890s. This device was called the Liberty Bell and had 3 reels with 5 symbols across them. These symbols included diamonds, hearts, spades, a horseshoe, and a Liberty Bell. The presence of the Liberty Bell symbol gave the machine its name – the Liberty Bell machine. The simplicity resulting from the reduction from 5 drums to 3 reels and using 5 symbols instead of 10 cards made payouts easy.

The success of the machine resulted in a huge number of them being developed over the years. These include the Operator Bell in 1907 by Herbert Mills of Chicago. Then there were the fruit machines, which gave out winnings in the form of fruit-flavoured chewing gums, and later machines with the fruit symbols. Then came machines with the additional bar symbol that you see today. Advanced technology created the video slot. Once the Internet came along all slots – video slots as well as classic slots – made their way to online casinos.

How Classic Slots Work

Classic slots are simple to play and work easily. You find wide variety in these games in terms of themes but the basic similarity is there in all: they come with 3 reels and have a very antiquated look about them. The classic slots you find at online casinos are usually copies of what you get at land-based casinos say, in land-based casinos in Vegas and other such gambling hotspots.

The way they work is simple. You sign up with the online casino and deposit funds for real money play. You zero in on the classic slots available here and click on the one you want to play. Choose your coin value and then place your wager by zeroing in on your coin size to avoid frustration and helplessness later. Aiding you in this decision is the paytable; it gives you a good idea of the advantages the different coin sizes come with.

Different Kinds of Classic Slots

You get different kinds of classic slots to try out when you are playing at an online casino. The most commonly seen ones include:

• Classic 3-reel slots with fixed jackpots: These games have 3 reels and a fixed jackpot. The number of coins allowed is also less, and they have a fixed jackpot as the title says. You have the liberty of playing with anywhere between 1 and 9 coins.
• Classic 3-reel slots with progressive jackpot: These are classic 3-reel slots that come with a progressive jackpot that can completely change your life for the better. You can play for the progressive jackpot only if you qualify to win it. You stand the chance of winning the progressive jackpot only if you play Max Bets.
• Classic 3-Reel slot that gives bonuses for playing maximum coins: These slots give you extra bonuses should you opt to play in Max Bet mode.
• Classic slots with 4 reels: Also called wide area progressive slots (WAPS) and could have up to 4 reels. The first of these was developed by International Gaming Technology (IGT) back in the 1980s. Because there is a progressive jackpot attached, the chances of winning are less.
• Classic slots with accumulator bonuses: Also called Variable State Slots, they pay out bonuses only if you land your bouquet of winning symbols or permutations and combinations of them in a bank. It is only post this that the bonus gets activated.

Top Classic Slots

Almost every online casino software provider, especially the veterans in the industry including names like Microgaming, NetEnt, Playtech, and many others offer classic slot games to players. These games all resemble the slots games of yore and are themed on stories from the future, the present, and the past. The following are some of the top classic slots that you get at online casinos across the world: