Slots and pokies are some of the oldest gambling games in the modern world. They saw their beginnings at the start of the twentieth century, and have attracted a vast audience ever since. Here is an overview of slot machine history and just how they have developed over the years.

The very first ever version of the slot machine was seen in 1891. Pittman and Sachs created a machine with five drums, each showing poker hand symbols. When players would win at these games, the machine would not pay out; rather, the bar housing them would provide players with drinks.

It could be four more years before Charles Fey would create the version of the slot machine stay with me which we are most acquainted today. The equipment provided players with cash payouts when it revealed matching symbols. The recognition of these games caught on quickly, until anti-gambling groups enacted a ban on slot machines within the early 20th century.

The ban only lasted a number of years, and it was not long before slots became popular again in casinos. It was throughout the 1950s that slot machines started to become popular around the globe. In 1953, Australian gaming company Aristocrat took note of the new trend and decided to manufacture its own brand of electronic gaming machines called pokies. The company's first machine was called the 'Clubman'.

Although it will be quite a while before we would see online slots, casinos in Las Vegas started making electronic slot machines, moving away from the normal, mechanical slot games that had become popular over the years. These machines were more secure than mechanical slots and made it more challenging for people to cheat casinos. During this time, electronic slots also saw the invention of the random number generator which made playing slots much more unpredictable.

Over the next few decades, slots would remain the same. It wouldn't be until the turn of the Century that we begin seeing the creation of online slots. The first online slots games were seen around 2001, when the first internet casinos went live. Companies like Microgaming got on the ground floor, creating some of the very first online slot machines available to the public.

For the past several years, slots have become several of the best games at online casinos, in addition to making up over 80% of land-based casino revenue. In the online world, players can find hundreds of different online slots games, many of which feature fun and inventive themes. Players also are able to find a broad range of branded and themed slots games, featuring innovative gaming technology.