The terminology around slot machines has changed a lot over time, including their nicknames. In some countries they’re better known as fruit machines and in other places the name ‘one-armed bandit’ is more common.
But what does that particular nickname actually mean? It might seem a little strange to play online Slots and call them that. So, let’s take a look at just where the name one-armed bandit comes from and why it persists as a nickname for this popular casino game.
One-armed slot machines
The most obvious bit of the nickname to look at is the term one-armed. Where this comes from is actually quite simple, referring to the design of early slot machines.
Mechanical slot machines featured a prominent lever on one side, which was how players would set the reels spinning once they had made their wager. Due to the mechanical nature of these machines, the lever was a crucial piece of their operation.
Once the lever was pulled, it would spin the reels into motion, effectively ‘turning on’ the game. Depending on the force of the pull, the spin of the reels could be faster or slower in some cases.
As the lever was the only part of the slot machine that players actively handled, it naturally became a defining characteristic of the games. This led to some players basing a nickname on the lever itself, the single arm of the machine.
The evolution of slot machines and the lever
By the middle of the 20th century, mechanical slot machines had started to phase out of usage. First, mechanical components were replaced with electromechanical ones, before the physical reels were eventually switched out for video screens.
With the removal of the physical reels there was no more need for the lever itself, as there were no more mechanical components for it to connect to. But players were used to seeing slot games with the lever, the one-armed bandits.
This meant that early video Slots that tried to remove the lever in favour of a button were initially met with scepticism. Removing the lever was not a popular idea, so many early video slot game designs still incorporated the lever to keep the games recognisable.
But eventually the shift towards video Slots saw the phasing out of the lever, as players became more used to the idea of initiating a spin with a button instead.
These days, most slot game designs use either the button or an interactive touchscreen prompt rather than a physical lever. This is especially true as an increasing number of players access Slots online.
Why does the nickname persist?
So, even though modern Slots don’t feature lever mechanisms, they are still sometimes referred to as one-armed bandits. Why do people still call them that, even when the lever is long gone?
Well, the nickname was around for the better part of the 20th century before slot machine designs began to change. Simply being used as a term to describe Slots for so long has given the nickname its staying power, even when the actual ‘arm’ of the slot machine is long gone.
The nickname of one-armed bandit is still closely linked to the idea of slot machines, especially in a nostalgic sense. But it could eventually fall out of use as we move further away from the age of slot machines with lever mechanisms.
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