If a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, call Live Slots Directly one deadly hombre. So as to better arm you for the battle on online pokie playing, check out the science (and history) we drop here in presenting a couple handfuls of bite-sized trivia on the pub game you love.
• A company (of which most details seem to be lost to the sands of time) called “Sittman and Pitt of Brooklyn” created a prototype of the modern slot machine in the last half of the 19th century. The device mostly resembled the “one-armed bandit” of lore with five “reels” behind which sat a reel with a deck of standard playing cards on each. A nickel got the player a spin, and the machine’s host awarded prizes.
• An important asterisk on Sittman and Pitt’s contraption. Wikipedia notes that “two cards were typically removed from the deck: the ten of spades and the jack of hearts, which cut the odds of winning a royal flush by half.”
• The federal regulation in place in America disallowing (or more accurately, prohibiting) slots and poker play at online casinos is called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA. This was passed as part of the anti-terrorism measure known as the SAFE Port Act, and technically does not make wagering online illegal, but rather makes illegal any transaction between a financial institution and an online gambling website. With certain, shall we say, well-lobbied exceptions, of course.
• The Czech Republic legalized online gambling for five Czech-based companies in January 2009. Though no study was undergone with regard to the amount of money the move might bring these companies, one owner estimated that each of the five should make “several hundred million [Euros] per year more” now.
• As of this writing, the current progressive jackpots available at Top Game-powered online casinos is over $4 million, with $2.5 million available by winning either Fruit Slot or Crazy Jungle.
• It is said that about 80 of all real-life casino revenues are derived from the slot machines; this number is about the same online in casinos that offer multiple games.
• Electromechanical devices began to be incorporated into the slot in the early 1950s; the “Super Big Bertha” took 50-cent pieces and employed an electric motor of five horsepower in strength.
• The variations in online slots keep on coming, too. A handful of games now have 100 paylines and a couple of models (Microgaming’s Burning Desire and Vegas Technology’s Grail Maiden) actually claim to have zero paylines (!), though it doesn’t quite work like that…
• Digital entertainment services company RealGames Inc. undertook a study in 2008 which revealed that playing online pokie machines may be good for you. Over 3,000 were polled, which results showing that 59% used slots as a “positive distraction” from overeating and 42% used them so as to avoid smoking; in the latter case, the same percentage reported actual decrease in smoking.
• The online pokie world is set to welcome its very first €1 million tournament winner in October: The winner of the “Grand Slam of Slots” will receive that amount. Good luck!