#113575058 - Vector slot machine or slots symbols and icons set. Add to Likebox #85760752 - Set of casino symbols - playing cards, chips, tokens, bingo kegs. Add to Likebox #43130947 - Slot machine flat icons and symbols. Free Slot Machine Symbol icons! Download 213 vector icons and icon kits.Available in PNG, ICO or ICNS icons for Mac for free use.
Since their appearance at the end of the 19th century (around 1895), slot machines changed the very essence of the term ‘entertainment'. They revolutionized the traditional way of gambling that people who were into that had practiced it until then with various card-based games. Of course, since then slot machines have changed beyond recognition. From mechanical appliances to today's modern hi-tech ones, and from the ones that needed a croupier to pay out winnings to players to today's online virtual machines whose contemporary software enables almost instant payouts.
However, although the machines have changed radically, the one thing that remained surprisingly consistent is the slot symbols. A lot of this consistency is down to tradition and the fact that most gamblers like familiarity. This doesn't mean that they haven't changed at all or that there's a lack of innovation from the side of the casino industry. Modern icons are a million miles away from the traditional ones that dominated the casinos up to the 1970s. The earliest ones included diamonds, hearts, spades, and a Liberty Bell.
These come in various sizes and shapes: from famous historic characters to the ones borrowed from popular movies, TV shows, and popular culture in general. This is done mainly because it helps players to easily identify themselves with those games.
If you're a newcomer to this type of fun, maybe you would like to get familiar with all those different symbols you can find in casinos today. It's good to know that they are all unique in offering various game features and bonuses but that at times they can cause slight confusion too.
Contents
- 1 Standard symbols
Standard symbols
Before we get to the modern icons, maybe it would be useful to give a brief overview of the first symbols used by traditional machines.
Cards and poker
As it was already said, cards, especially poker, were commonplace in traditional American saloons, just like fistfights and gunfights. Therefore it was no surprise the very first, primitive slots used card symbols and colors – spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds.
The poker symbols remained dominant until the reduction of reels from five to three. But even today you can find that there are still many casinos using machines with cards and these motives, and one of the most famous ones comes from there – lucky number seven.
Fruit icons
Regardless of whether you are into these machines or not, you must have wondered why fruit appears in most of the slot machines you can find in today's casinos and gambling houses. Fruit icons have become a standard, traditional symbols, and their usage started at the very beginning of the 20th century when these machines became widely banned. To get around this ban, gambling companies started creating slots that started paying out winners in gums and fruits instead of cash.
So, there's the answer to the question of what do all those juicy fruit icons mean – these would actually be bubble gum flavors! Since then lemons, cherries, oranges, apples, and pears have become so popular that they are now inevitable in almost every major casino.
Scatter symbols
img source: freepik.com
These icons are a common additional, bonus feature that most of the modern (traditional and online) slots have. They all have specific functions depending on the game you're playing. In some slots, they might trigger various types of bonus features, while in others they might even act as multipliers or a substitute for other icons to help create a winning combination.
But, does this mean that all slots have Scatters? No, it doesn't. Although they're very common in many types of games, there are still many slots, especially the online ones, that don't really feature these types of icons.
Bonus symbols
These are very similar to scatters but they trigger a special bonus game. Scatters and bonuses can often alter their functions – sometimes the scatters could trigger the bonus game, while special free spin symbols start the free spin rounds. In most cases though, the bonus icons are linked to the slot's overall theme. Their mechanics often vary from game to game, so it's a good idea to check it in advance, so that you may know what to expect.
Bonus games are usually the slot's most innovative features. Bonus games could also require some decision-making, so you should be ready for some quick screen interactions, but since slots are universally liked for their simplicity, it's very unlikely that you'll find some gameplay elements that would actually be difficult for you. But at the end of the day, just like in any other casino game, bonus rounds always come down to luck.
Wild symbols
img source: unsplash.com
For people who aren't familiar with slot machines in general wild symbols could be a kind of mystery. But the truth is that these icons have been there from the very beginning of the machines. They are the equivalent of the Joker in a cards deck. The Joker is a Wild card.
The only reason for their existence is to make a game more interesting and more enjoyable. They have the ultimate power to replace any other symbol in the game and they even help when trying to complete a pay line and collect winnings.
The only exceptions when it comes to the substitution are the Scatter and the Bonus icons. The first ones will payout no matter where they appear, while a certain number of bonus icons trigger free rounds of extra spins. Just as there are different slot game types, there are also different types of Wild Symbols. Many modern online casinos like Slots-o-Rama have a plethora of special wild symbols, each bringing a unique zest to the game.
Multiplier symbols
These are among the ones that you might rarely receive. Their purpose is exactly what their names say – they multiply your wins. They can appear on reels just as any other icons and can also multiply the prize of any winning combinations they join. Naturally, due to their purpose, not many slots feature multipliers, and their number on the reels is usually on the low side to compensate for their high cash returns.
Now that you know the history of modern slot machine symbols and what they mean, maybe you would like to try them for yourself. But whether you choose machines with more traditional icons or the modern ones, remember – it's the passion that still rules the game!
Slot machines are more fun when you understand what's going on with the game. If you don't know what the slot machine symbols mean, and if you don't know what it takes to get a winning combination, you might as well just play rocks scissors and paper with some stranger.
The purpose of this post is to take a detailed look at some of the inner workings of slot machines, especially as it relates to the slot machine symbols most commonly in use.
The traditions behind why slot machines use bar and fruit symbols are decades old, and the history of slot machines is fascinating all by itself.
In this post, I explain what the different slot machine icons mean and why it matters to the average player.
1-What Does the Bar Symbol Mean on a Slot Machine?
Slot machines have been around since the 1890s. You'd find these early slot machine games in bars and taverns in cities like New York and San Francisco. When gambling became illegal, these businesses started giving away candy and chewing gum instead of money.
Imagine going into a bar today and putting money into a slot machine with the opportunity to win a free drink or a cigar.
That's what gambling in a tavern was like in the 1890s.
#113575058 - Vector slot machine or slots symbols and icons set. Add to Likebox #85760752 - Set of casino symbols - playing cards, chips, tokens, bingo kegs. Add to Likebox #43130947 - Slot machine flat icons and symbols. Free Slot Machine Symbol icons! Download 213 vector icons and icon kits.Available in PNG, ICO or ICNS icons for Mac for free use.
Since their appearance at the end of the 19th century (around 1895), slot machines changed the very essence of the term ‘entertainment'. They revolutionized the traditional way of gambling that people who were into that had practiced it until then with various card-based games. Of course, since then slot machines have changed beyond recognition. From mechanical appliances to today's modern hi-tech ones, and from the ones that needed a croupier to pay out winnings to players to today's online virtual machines whose contemporary software enables almost instant payouts.
However, although the machines have changed radically, the one thing that remained surprisingly consistent is the slot symbols. A lot of this consistency is down to tradition and the fact that most gamblers like familiarity. This doesn't mean that they haven't changed at all or that there's a lack of innovation from the side of the casino industry. Modern icons are a million miles away from the traditional ones that dominated the casinos up to the 1970s. The earliest ones included diamonds, hearts, spades, and a Liberty Bell.
These come in various sizes and shapes: from famous historic characters to the ones borrowed from popular movies, TV shows, and popular culture in general. This is done mainly because it helps players to easily identify themselves with those games.
If you're a newcomer to this type of fun, maybe you would like to get familiar with all those different symbols you can find in casinos today. It's good to know that they are all unique in offering various game features and bonuses but that at times they can cause slight confusion too.
Contents
- 1 Standard symbols
Standard symbols
Before we get to the modern icons, maybe it would be useful to give a brief overview of the first symbols used by traditional machines.
Cards and poker
As it was already said, cards, especially poker, were commonplace in traditional American saloons, just like fistfights and gunfights. Therefore it was no surprise the very first, primitive slots used card symbols and colors – spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds.
The poker symbols remained dominant until the reduction of reels from five to three. But even today you can find that there are still many casinos using machines with cards and these motives, and one of the most famous ones comes from there – lucky number seven.
Fruit icons
Regardless of whether you are into these machines or not, you must have wondered why fruit appears in most of the slot machines you can find in today's casinos and gambling houses. Fruit icons have become a standard, traditional symbols, and their usage started at the very beginning of the 20th century when these machines became widely banned. To get around this ban, gambling companies started creating slots that started paying out winners in gums and fruits instead of cash.
So, there's the answer to the question of what do all those juicy fruit icons mean – these would actually be bubble gum flavors! Since then lemons, cherries, oranges, apples, and pears have become so popular that they are now inevitable in almost every major casino.
Scatter symbols
img source: freepik.com
These icons are a common additional, bonus feature that most of the modern (traditional and online) slots have. They all have specific functions depending on the game you're playing. In some slots, they might trigger various types of bonus features, while in others they might even act as multipliers or a substitute for other icons to help create a winning combination.
But, does this mean that all slots have Scatters? No, it doesn't. Although they're very common in many types of games, there are still many slots, especially the online ones, that don't really feature these types of icons.
Bonus symbols
These are very similar to scatters but they trigger a special bonus game. Scatters and bonuses can often alter their functions – sometimes the scatters could trigger the bonus game, while special free spin symbols start the free spin rounds. In most cases though, the bonus icons are linked to the slot's overall theme. Their mechanics often vary from game to game, so it's a good idea to check it in advance, so that you may know what to expect.
Bonus games are usually the slot's most innovative features. Bonus games could also require some decision-making, so you should be ready for some quick screen interactions, but since slots are universally liked for their simplicity, it's very unlikely that you'll find some gameplay elements that would actually be difficult for you. But at the end of the day, just like in any other casino game, bonus rounds always come down to luck.
Wild symbols
img source: unsplash.com
For people who aren't familiar with slot machines in general wild symbols could be a kind of mystery. But the truth is that these icons have been there from the very beginning of the machines. They are the equivalent of the Joker in a cards deck. The Joker is a Wild card.
The only reason for their existence is to make a game more interesting and more enjoyable. They have the ultimate power to replace any other symbol in the game and they even help when trying to complete a pay line and collect winnings.
The only exceptions when it comes to the substitution are the Scatter and the Bonus icons. The first ones will payout no matter where they appear, while a certain number of bonus icons trigger free rounds of extra spins. Just as there are different slot game types, there are also different types of Wild Symbols. Many modern online casinos like Slots-o-Rama have a plethora of special wild symbols, each bringing a unique zest to the game.
Multiplier symbols
These are among the ones that you might rarely receive. Their purpose is exactly what their names say – they multiply your wins. They can appear on reels just as any other icons and can also multiply the prize of any winning combinations they join. Naturally, due to their purpose, not many slots feature multipliers, and their number on the reels is usually on the low side to compensate for their high cash returns.
Now that you know the history of modern slot machine symbols and what they mean, maybe you would like to try them for yourself. But whether you choose machines with more traditional icons or the modern ones, remember – it's the passion that still rules the game!
Slot machines are more fun when you understand what's going on with the game. If you don't know what the slot machine symbols mean, and if you don't know what it takes to get a winning combination, you might as well just play rocks scissors and paper with some stranger.
The purpose of this post is to take a detailed look at some of the inner workings of slot machines, especially as it relates to the slot machine symbols most commonly in use.
The traditions behind why slot machines use bar and fruit symbols are decades old, and the history of slot machines is fascinating all by itself.
In this post, I explain what the different slot machine icons mean and why it matters to the average player.
1-What Does the Bar Symbol Mean on a Slot Machine?
Slot machines have been around since the 1890s. You'd find these early slot machine games in bars and taverns in cities like New York and San Francisco. When gambling became illegal, these businesses started giving away candy and chewing gum instead of money.
Imagine going into a bar today and putting money into a slot machine with the opportunity to win a free drink or a cigar.
That's what gambling in a tavern was like in the 1890s.
What does the bar symbol mean?
Think about what it looks like.
It's a rectangle, right?
My first guess would be that the bar symbol on a slot machine symbolized a candy bar, but that would be too big. After all, keep in mind that the idea was to have prizes that were small, like coins.
The bar symbols on slot machines represent sticks of chewing gum — specifically, BAR chewing gum. (It was a popular brand of the Bell-Fruit Gum Company at the time.) They were in color in those days, and different colors meant different flavors of gum.
Slot machine makers still use bar symbols out of tradition, even though I've never seen a slot machine game that offers gum as a prize.
2- What Do the Fruit Symbols Mean on a Slot Machine?
Just as the bar symbol meant you were going to win chewing gum, the various flavors of fruit-inspired candy were prizes you could win. Cherry symbols meant winning cherry-flavored candy.
Apples meant winning apple-flavored candy. Oranges and plums, well… They meant you won dragonfruit and huckleberry flavored candy.
Just kidding.
Obviously, the picture of the fruit in question represented the flavor of candy you won.
And, again, the reason these symbols are still in use have more to do with tradition than anything else. People are just used to seeing these symbols on these games.
3- How Many Different Symbols Are There on a Slot Machine?
An average slot machine game might have about 20 symbols on each reel. This does NOT imply that each symbol has a 1/20 probability of coming up on a spin, though.
Modern slot machines use a random number generator to determine their results. These are actually random — they're not fixed or rigged in any way.
The casino makes its money because the prize schedule for a slot machine game pays prizes in such a way that the game is inherently profitable.
Think about it this way:
Suppose you played a casino game where you had a 1 in 600 probability of winning, but when you won, you only got a payout of 500 to 1.
Do you see how that would be profitable for the casino?
Slot Machine Symbols Icons Transparent
You'd lose $1 on 599 spins, but you'd win $500 on the one spin, for a net loss of $99.
Such a game would have a house edge of around 17%, on average.
The payouts on a slot machine game are more complicated than that, but it's the same principle.
Free Slot Machine Icons
4- What Are the Odds of Winning on a Slot Machine?
Here's the thing about slot machines:
You don't know what the odds of winning are.
And, to an extent, the odds of winning are irrelevant. What you're really concerned about is the payback percentage.
That's a ratio that compares the odds of winning with the amount you win. Over time, it represents the long-term average of how much money the casino will win from you on each bet.
Slot Machine Symbol Meanings
Most slot machines have a hit ratio of about 1 in 3 or 1 in 4.
Slot Machine Symbols
So it's fair to see that on most slot machines, your odds of winning something are 3 to 1 or 2 to 1.
The problem is that the payouts aren't commensurate with these odds of winning.
Also, slot machines pay off bets on an X for Y basis rather than an X to Y basis. Free deposit bonus casino.
In blackjack, your payouts are in addition to what you risked. Bet $5 on a blackjack hand and win, and you get a 1 to 1 payout, or even money. You get your $5 bet back with $5 in winnings.
Gambling machines, though, pay back with odds on a 1 'for' 1 basis. Bet $5 on a spin of the slot machine reels, and you get $5 in winning in exchange for your $5 bet.
The machine acts like it's a win, but the reality is that it's a push.
Slot Machine Symbols Icons Png
This is also one of the reasons slot machines measure their odds using payback percentage rather than house edge.
When a slot machine game has a 90% payback percentage, it means that on average you get back 90% of each bet. Place a $5 bet, and you'll get an average of $4.50 back over time — which means you'll lose 50 cents per bet on average.
And that's just the average including any jackpots you win. If you play in the short-term and don't see a jackpot, you'll usually see a lower payback percentage until you get some winnings and catch up.
5- Which Slot Machine Has the Best Payout?
How do you know which slot machine has the best payout?
The short answer to this question is easy enough:
You don't.
You have NO WAY of knowing which machine has better payouts than the other machines. In fact, you can play an identical slot machine next to the one you started on and be facing a different payback percentage.
The casinos have no rhyme or reason in terms of where they place the higher and lower payout machines.
In the long run, it doesn't even really matter. If you play a negative expectation game long enough — and slots are ALWAYS a negative expectation game — you'll eventually lose all your money.
Stop worrying about which slot machine has the best payout.
Worry instead about how much fun you're having — or not. If you don't enjoy a specific game, move on to another game.
6- Why Are They Called 'Slot' Machines?
They're called slot machines because you put your money into a slot to play.
When they were first invented, slot machines only worked on a literal coin-in and coin-out basis.
Now, of course, most slot machines work by accepting bills and spitting out a piece of paper with the amount you're owed on it.
But we haven't changed the name of the games.
Also, it's not called a slot machine in other countries, always. In the United Kingdom, they're called fruit machines. In Australia, they're called 'pokies,' which is short for poker machines.
That last nomenclature comes from their original nature — the first slot machines, which predated the machines that gave away candy — used playing cards to produce random results instead of symbols on metal reels.
7- Who Invented the Slot Machine?
According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, as well as many other legitimate sources, Charles Fey invented the first slot machines.
He born in Bavaria but was making his living as a mechanic in San Francisco when he invented slot machines in 1894. It didn't take long for him to be doing so well that he started a factor to produce more slot machines.
The first 3-reel slot machine with machine-generated payouts in real money was invented in 1898, also by Charles Fey. The Liberty Bell, which most modern slot players would recognize as a real slot machine, came along in 1899 — another Fey invention.
There are only 4 Liberty Bell machines still extant.
Also, it didn't take long for other companies, like the Mills Novelty Company, to steal Fey's invention and start making money from their own versions of it.
Finally
Those are the most accurate and concise answers to some of the most common questions about slot machines and their symbols on the internet.
What other questions do you have besides what do the symbols mean?
Leave me a note in the comments, and I'll respond with an answer if I can.
