The slot machines received universal recognition in casinos and other gaming centers since – unlike other games like table games – the pace of the play was given by players. Even more, players did not need any special skills – everything depended entirely on luck. The point of the game with a traditional slot machine of “one armed bandit” was to activate the lever and wait that symbols on the drums line up in a winning combination. When this happens, the machine throws out a winning amount of money according to the table of winnings. Usually the chance to get a combination with a modest profit was much higher than the chance to win the jackpot.

As a matter of fact, the original American term “slot machine” was used for both vending and gaming machines since both of them had slots for inserting coins. Later this term was used only for those machines which in exchange for a coin was giving the opportunity to play a game but not material goods.