Have you ever wondering, what the slot machine symbols mean? Many people have questioned why the cherry, the bar, the bell, the lucky seven, and other symbols are present in so many classic slots. We’ll take you on a historical journey to the origins of a custom that has shaped modernity.

Slot Machine Symbols Meaning

We can learn a lot about how modern slot online are played today by looking at the original designs of slot machines. We’ll also discuss the plethora of special symbols that have emerged in recent years; some of them are only found in online games, while others can also be found in physical machines.

1. Fruit Symbols

You have most likely seen the iconic fruit machine symbols at some point in your life. Even if you’ve never played a vintage slot machine, you’ve probably seen the vibrant fruits on television, online, and even in video games. The first slot machines, however, didn’t resemble the play for fun free slots at all.

Although they are ancient, fruit machines actually debuted a few decades after the first slot machines. Fans of video slots would probably be familiar with the different themes of the original slot machine symbols. When people brag about shaking hands with a one-armed bandit, this was still in the past.

2. The Bell, the Horseshoe and the Seven

One more technological advancement was required for the traditional one-armed bandits: automatic payouts. When you won on the original poker-themed machines, a person had to physically hand you your prize; back then, that person was typically the bartender.

In an effort to make the first traditional slot machine fully automatic, Charles Fey built it in 1895. While doing that, he changed the card symbols and reduced the number of reels to 3. In reality, he only left the Liberty Bell, the 3 card suits (diamonds, hearts, and spades), and a horseshoe on the reels.

The Liberty Bell became one of the iconic slot machine symbols and gave the first slot machine its name. Since the creator did not submit a patent application, his design was quickly imitated, and 3-reel slot games started to feature his original icons in their symbols.

It can be difficult to pinpoint the exact moment the Lucky Seven first appeared on the reels, but this number is regarded as lucky in the gambling community. It could be argued that the sevens gradually replaced the horseshoe as a lucky symbol because there are now fewer horseshoe symbols.

How Many Symbols in Slot Machines Actually?

The precise number of slot machine symbols on a reel is a frequently asked question. Because it was relatively simple to disassemble one of Fay’s early fruit machines, you should keep in mind that this question is much easier to answer for classic slot machines than for the modern variations.

Typically, 3-reel slots had 60 slot machine symbols total, or about 20 symbols per reel. If you’re good at math, you may have already calculated that this equates to more than 8,000 combinations, one of which is typically the jackpot.

In fact, the size of the jackpot that slots could offer was for the longest time significantly constrained by the number of symbols. After all, if jackpots were paid out more quickly than wagers were placed, the slots would cease to exist. The initial slot machines offered payouts of up to 50 cents, which was actually thought of as a good hit at the time.

Modern electronic games, however, are very different, and the likelihood of winning is unaffected by the number of symbols in the slots. Fans of casino slot machines are frequently quite surprised to learn that, in modern times, complex RNG modules buried deep within the mechanism determine your exact odds of winning rather than the reel composition.

Final Words

Online players frequently believe that online games follow the same rules as traditional slot machines. Even land-based slots no longer fall under their purview. Your chances of landing a winning combination are no longer impacted by the quantity of slot machine symbols on the reels. A Random Number Generator, or RNG, now decides the outcome of a slot spin.

This sophisticated program constantly generates numbers that correspond to the positions of the reels. The outcome of your spin is decided by random numbers as soon as you click “Play.” This indicates that there are no fixed reels in online slots. Nowadays, land-based slots generally work on the same premise. The RNG resembles a tiny computer that is concealed somewhere deep inside the machine.