They are still the biggest draw at retail casinos. Slots became the most popular attraction in land-based casinos in the latter half of the 1900s and 2000s. It was, however, a losing battle as those one-armed bandits continued to pop up in ever-increasing numbers. This was particularly true in the United States, where government agencies seized and destroyed thousands of them. While they appeared in places like beer halls, stores, and underground casinos, governments around the world waged war on them. Slot machines were very controversial in the early to mid-twentieth century.
The first slot machines essentially dealt you three cards and rewarded you with a non-cash prize if you ended up with a strong enough hand.
Of course, those first games were a lot different from the ones you see today. Slot machines have been the most popular casino games since they were invented way back in the late 1800s.
