There are thousands of online slots sites listed on the internetwhich makes one wonder where did the madness of slot machinesbegin. Gambling has been around practically forever with a lotof its roots in China. It's uncertain where some games ofchanges got their start, but this is not the case with the verypopular one-armed bandits.

Online slots actually find their roots in American history. Aman by the name of Charles Fey created the original form of thisgame all the way back in 1887 in San Francisco, California. Thegame started out with three wheels, as is still commonly seentoday and each wheel held 10 symbols.

The top jackpots paid came with a match of three bells,eventually leading this machine to be known as the "Bell"machine. The machine came with a lever on the side which wasused to get the three wheels spinning. Here we find thebeginnings of the "one-armed bandits" nickname.

In 1910, things began to change for the spreading "Bell"machine. Fey partnered with another man by the name of HerbertMills. This teaming led to the still common fruit symbols beingused today. These machines were produced by the thousands andweighed in at more than 100 pounds each.

Having seen the way-back background of slot machines, what is itthat brought on the internet slot revolution? One of the reasonsis the simplicity. Casinos first started using the machines as adistraction for wives and girlfriends as the "real" players satin on table games. The game, in and of itself, was and is verysimple.

To add the simplicity of getting to online slots in seconds overthe internet makes the game even more appealing for even themost lazy people. No longer having to fight traffic, parking,crowds, and noise can make the simple gambler's life extremelyeasy.

But are the internet slots as credible as the traditionalphysical machines? Caution is needed but, in general, it's apretty good bet that they are. Most online slots today use athing called a random number generator (RNG). As the nameimplies, the RNG is used to randomly select what symbols willsurface on each simulated wheel face.

One-armed bandits have come a long way in converting toone-click wonders and they seem to be as here to stay as theirphysical counterparts. The choices for online slots abound withalmost no limit.

Did You Know? In the late 1800s coin operated devices with largerevolving wheels first appeared. They were divided into segmentsof different colors. A player would bet on which color the wheelwould stop on. These devices were the precursors of today's slotmachines.

Most quality sites make it fairly easy to find their paybackpercentages. Keeping that in mind, searching for slot machinesthat are visually appealing, audibly interesting, and overallenjoyable can be as entertaining as the game itself.

We must be thankful to Mr. Charles Fey because without him allof these great websites would never have existed. Also, there islittle doubt that casinos would never have been as successful ifthis wonderful machine had never been invented. And, without himmillions of people would never have had the thrill of yelling"Jackpot" from their easy chair!

About the author:James Gurkin has been providing quality gambling informationonline since 1998. His website Online Gambling Guide provides tutorials and information for most casino games. Jameshas taught hundreds of thousands of visitors how to play casinogames for profit.