In the private members clubs or gaming halls of Regency London, wealthy individuals might take it in turns to act as the house or banker. The idea of playing against the ‘house’ in our modern sense only really developed with the casinos in Venice and mainland Europe. Yet even then, roulette or hazard was still essentially about several people playing in a group, even if they won or lost as individuals.
Gambling was an inherently social activity, in which fortunes might change hands, but where conversation and a shared experience were an essential part of its appeal.
A game that was and still is popular in real casinos, is the dice game Craps, where players are betting individually on the same table but tend to win or lose together – fostering a shared experience.
Strangely, however, the game has never made the jump to online – there are only a few sites that offer a single-player version.
Today, the closest we see to the original shared play experience of people enjoying a night out in a physical casino, is the Live Casino tab on many online gaming sites, many run by leading providers like Evolution, Ezugi or Evo Gaming.
Here players can see the chat and wins of other virtual players or interact with the dealer.
the big change
the mechanical
slots machine
The big change to the multiplayer nature of gambling came with the invention of the mechanical slot machines – single-player gaming devices which could also provide a more regulated experience.
1893
The very first was the Sittman and Pitt 5 reel poker machine, made in 1893 – a direct ancestor of our modern slot machines and video slots.
1898 – 1905
Then sometime between 1898 and 1905, Charles Fey in San Francisco created an automatic payout machine with just 3 reels and swapped the cards for images like bells and stars. Putting his machine into bars, he asked for a whopping 50% take of the coin drop – an eye watering amount manufacturers would think nowadays.
1907
In 1907, a separate company acquired the rights to begin mass-producing the Liberty Bell – and the history of whether the idea was bought or ‘stolen’ continues to be disputed!