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Slot Terms You Need to Know: Volume 8

Certified: There are very few places in the world where one can simply own a slot machine and run it all willy-nilly. In fact, we’d wager to say that these places don’t exist! Pretty much every nation has their own, explicit laws governing the operation of slot games, and some sub-territories (like states and provinces) make even more specific with additional regulations. In addition, the international gaming industry has laid out its own set of rules for slot operation. Slot machines that have been checked out by a casino regulator and okayed as having met all applicable laws and rules are found to be “certified.” Beware of any casino that has less than 100% certified machines! Online slot machines must also be certified, based on such things as payout percentage.

Fey, Charles: Just call this guy The Father of the Modern Slot Machine. Fey was a down-on-his-luck inventor who made millions and revolutionized latter-day gambling when he invented the first-ever slot game with an automatic payout mechanism in 1887. His brainchild, the Liberty Bell, was a three-reel slot machine with diamonds, hearts, horseshoes, spades, and the eponymous liberty bell as symbols. Fey’s Liberty Bell games replaced the prototype slot games (which featured five tumblers and fifty card faces that came up in poker hand combinations) and eventually became so popular that his company couldn’t keep up with the demand!

Drop Through: This is a sort of slot machine akin to Pachinko slot titles that are popular in Japan. Like a vertical pinball machine, “drop through” slots feature small balls that drop through obstacles on a board to obtain a result on the slot.

Continue to part 9 here.

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