Internal mechanism for a gambling 'fruit' or 'slot' machine, with penny

This ‘one armed bandit’ style wall-mounted gambling machine was manufactured in West Germany in the 1950s. The ‘Merkur’ branding is not to be confused with the still running Merkur Casino (which also happens to be German) – the naming is a coincidence. This machine is purely a game of chance and demonstrates a mathematical limitation with early fruit machines. It has three reels with 10 symbols on each reel, limiting the possible combination of symbols to 1000, meaning even the rarest combination had a likelihood of 0.1% and a maximum theoretical pay-out of 1000 times the bet (presuming 100% is returned to the player).

The first machine that we would recognise as a fruit machine was invented by Charles Fey in San Francisco in 1895. A ‘one armed bandit’ like this machine, it was a simple mechanical machine with one handle (hence the name one armed bandit!) you would pull to spin a set of three reels that would stop to show a combination of five symbols that were hopefully a winner! There were initially a variety of symbols on the reels, dependant on the manufacturer. Fey’s version was known as the ‘Liberty Bell’ and included a bell symbol that is still used on gambling machines today, as well as diamonds, hearts, horseshoes and spades. Fey’s machine was a simplified version of the first gambling machine, created in 1891 and based on a game of poker with five drums holding 50 playing cards.

The iconic fruit symbols and the moniker ‘fruit machine’ was gained in the first two decades of the 20th century, inattempts to circumnavigate the taboo and laws around gambling by using food as a prize, so the machines could be placed outside of casinos. Many companies were rebranding their gambling machines as chewing gum dispensers, creating reels with fruit symbols to match the fruit flavour of the gum, so the name ‘fruit machine’ stuck – in the UK. In the US the term ‘slot machine’ is most widely used, whilst in Australia they are known as ‘pokies’. This machine has a numbered reel as this was popular in Germany at the time of its manufacture. It is possible the numbered reels were re-purposed from earlier machines as many of the Merkur machines are known to have interior mechanism parts repurposed from other manufacturers, usually Mills or Tura. The machines were also available with fruit symbols.

This kind of pull handle, mechanical machine is now rarely found within physical casinos as modern machines utilize microprocessors to computerise the selection of a winning combination. This computerisation along with the inclusion of video screens allows for much more diverse machines, as well as much higher jackpots due to the higher number of possible winning combinations. Gambling has moved online, with digital version of fruit machines available to play on most gambling websites and apps.

Gambling and in particular slot machines have been banned to some degree in many countries, and slot machines are now strictly regulated as games of chance. In the UK these machines must now state the percentage of coin pay-out, which must be at least 80% of what was paid in.

Metal covering for a 'Merkur' gambling 'fruit' or 'slot' machine

This ‘one armed bandit’ style wall-mounted gambling machine was manufactured in West Germany in the 1950s. The ‘Merkur’ branding is not to be confused with the still running Merkur Casino (which also happens to be German) – the naming is a coincidence. This machine is purely a game of chance and demonstrates a mathematical limitation with early fruit machines. It has three reels with 10 symbols on each reel, limiting the possible combination of symbols to 1000, meaning even the rarest combination had a likelihood of 0.1% and a maximum theoretical pay-out of 1000 times the bet (presuming 100% is returned to the player).

The first machine that we would recognise as a fruit machine was invented by Charles Fey in San Francisco in 1895. A ‘one armed bandit’ like this machine, it was a simple mechanical machine with one handle (hence the name one armed bandit!) you would pull to spin a set of three reels that would stop to show a combination of five symbols that were hopefully a winner! There were initially a variety of symbols on the reels, dependant on the manufacturer. Fey’s version was known as the ‘Liberty Bell’ and included a bell symbol that is still used on gambling machines today, as well as diamonds, hearts, horseshoes and spades. Fey’s machine was a simplified version of the first gambling machine, created in 1891 and based on a game of poker with five drums holding 50 playing cards.

The iconic fruit symbols and the moniker ‘fruit machine’ was gained in the first two decades of the 20th century, inattempts to circumnavigate the taboo and laws around gambling by using food as a prize, so the machines could be placed outside of casinos. Many companies were rebranding their gambling machines as chewing gum dispensers, creating reels with fruit symbols to match the fruit flavour of the gum, so the name ‘fruit machine’ stuck – in the UK. In the US the term ‘slot machine’ is most widely used, whilst in Australia they are known as ‘pokies’. This machine has a numbered reel as this was popular in Germany at the time of its manufacture. It is possible the numbered reels were re-purposed from earlier machines as many of the Merkur machines are known to have interior mechanism parts repurposed from other manufacturers, usually Mills or Tura. The machines were also available with fruit symbols.

This kind of pull handle, mechanical machine is now rarely found within physical casinos as modern machines utilize microprocessors to computerise the selection of a winning combination. This computerisation along with the inclusion of video screens allows for much more diverse machines, as well as much higher jackpots due to the higher number of possible winning combinations. Gambling has moved online, with digital version of fruit machines available to play on most gambling websites and apps.

Gambling and in particular slot machines have been banned to some degree in many countries, and slot machines are now strictly regulated as games of chance. In the UK these machines must now state the percentage of coin pay-out, which must be at least 80% of what was paid in.

Wooden cabinet side with metal handle, for a gambling 'fruit' or 'slot' machine

This ‘one armed bandit’ style wall-mounted gambling machine was manufactured in West Germany in the 1950s. The ‘Merkur’ branding is not to be confused with the still running Merkur Casino (which also happens to be German) – the naming is a coincidence. This machine is purely a game of chance and demonstrates a mathematical limitation with early fruit machines. It has three reels with 10 symbols on each reel, limiting the possible combination of symbols to 1000, meaning even the rarest combination had a likelihood of 0.1% and a maximum theoretical pay-out of 1000 times the bet (presuming 100% is returned to the player).

The first machine that we would recognise as a fruit machine was invented by Charles Fey in San Francisco in 1895. A ‘one armed bandit’ like this machine, it was a simple mechanical machine with one handle (hence the name one armed bandit!) you would pull to spin a set of three reels that would stop to show a combination of five symbols that were hopefully a winner! There were initially a variety of symbols on the reels, dependant on the manufacturer. Fey’s version was known as the ‘Liberty Bell’ and included a bell symbol that is still used on gambling machines today, as well as diamonds, hearts, horseshoes and spades. Fey’s machine was a simplified version of the first gambling machine, created in 1891 and based on a game of poker with five drums holding 50 playing cards.

The iconic fruit symbols and the moniker ‘fruit machine’ was gained in the first two decades of the 20th century, inattempts to circumnavigate the taboo and laws around gambling by using food as a prize, so the machines could be placed outside of casinos. Many companies were rebranding their gambling machines as chewing gum dispensers, creating reels with fruit symbols to match the fruit flavour of the gum, so the name ‘fruit machine’ stuck – in the UK. In the US the term ‘slot machine’ is most widely used, whilst in Australia they are known as ‘pokies’. This machine has a numbered reel as this was popular in Germany at the time of its manufacture. It is possible the numbered reels were re-purposed from earlier machines as many of the Merkur machines are known to have interior mechanism parts repurposed from other manufacturers, usually Mills or Tura. The machines were also available with fruit symbols.

This kind of pull handle, mechanical machine is now rarely found within physical casinos as modern machines utilize microprocessors to computerise the selection of a winning combination. This computerisation along with the inclusion of video screens allows for much more diverse machines, as well as much higher jackpots due to the higher number of possible winning combinations. Gambling has moved online, with digital version of fruit machines available to play on most gambling websites and apps.

Gambling and in particular slot machines have been banned to some degree in many countries, and slot machines are now strictly regulated as games of chance. In the UK these machines must now state the percentage of coin pay-out, which must be at least 80% of what was paid in.