
Slot machines have always been one of the most popular parts of any casino, and that is a tradition that has transferred over to the online casino world. Today’s games are a lot more advanced than their predecessors, featuring all sorts of animations, bonus games, and a host of other features that take playing the slots to a whole new level.
Depending on where you grew up, you probably have a different name for slots, with folks in Australia referring to them as pokies, whilst in the UK and much of Europe they are referred to as fruit machines or one armed bandits.
The fruit machine reference is easy to understand, given that the original pub slots dispensed fruit flavoured gum as a prize, rather than cash. That is why many of the reels still have fruits as their symbols, as it is a throwback to the origins of the game.
The one armed bandit may not be quite so easy to understand, especially for those who are used to the modern video slots games that they play online. The older machines had a single pull lever on one side of the machine that you had to pull in order to activate the spin. The feeling was that the level looked like a single arm, and the name was born.
If you go to a land based casino today, you will see that the majority of the slot on the casino floor still bear that single arm, but it’s almost always done for aesthetic purposes, as most of them don’t do anything if you try to pull them.
If you are someone who grew up playing one armed bandits, then perhaps the next time you play slots at Vegas Palms you can simply tuck one arm inside your shirt and then hit the buttons one handed; call it an old school homage if you must.









