Try here the best online slot games with three reels. Select and play whenever you want with no time limits. Note, here you will find only three reel slot games, if you want to play at different kinds of games, just check our online slot directory, where are grouped all the available slots in alphabetical order.

Origins

In the year 1895, in a basement workshop, an auto mechanic invented the first true slot machine and changed the way the world gambled. Charles Fey's invention, which was made of heavy cast iron and featured three mechanical reels, came to be fondly known as the Liberty Bell.

This machine was the first 3 reels slots. The mechanics were simple. A player inserted a coin into a slot to unlock a lever and gave it a pull. This activated a mechanism causing three metal reels to revolve and then randomly stop. Each reel had only five symbols, so the odds of three Liberty Bells lining up on the single payline were good. The prize was a $.50 jackpot which was a great payout in the early days of slots.

Fey's contribution to the game did not stop with the Liberty Bell. His next machine was called the Operator Bell. Those familiar with the fruit symbols that are standard on slot machines today can credit Charles Fey; the traditional fruit designs first appeared on this machine and have been used in all types of slots games since then.

The Ignominious Past of Slots

Today, slot machines may account for as much as 80 percent of all modern casino revenue; however, during the early 20th century 3 reels slots were considered a novelty and an immoral one at that. Anti-gambling sentiment ran high. Police and politicians often attempted to gain popularity with the public by vilifying slots and those who played them. For a time, slot machines were illegal in California and Nevada.

Fey found a way to work around this. He began designing slots that functioned like vending machines. Newcomers to the business capitalized on Fey's creativity; machines developed by the Bell-Fruit Gum Company dispensed chewing gum every time their handles were pulled. The bar symbol frequently found on slots reels today began as a marketing ploy when the gum company developed the design to advertise their product.

3 Reels Slots Are Played Everywhere Today

Time passed, anti-gambling sentiment relaxed and "Bugsy" Siegel developed a hotel on what would become the famous Las Vegas strip; in fact, Bugsy was instrumental in giving slot machines a boost in the gaming industry. Looking for a way to occupy the female companions of the men he wanted to keep engaged at his tables, he installed slot machines wherever he had space. It worked. No longer considered a novelty, slots became a standard casino offering and were soon found almost everywhere that games of chance were played.

Today, recent technological advances have made games like slots accessible to everyone. Players can choose to visit a land-based casino or to play online in the comfort and privacy of their homes. Perhaps it is the simplicity of the game play, or maybe it is a fondness for the game's place in history that players find so appealing; regardless, 3 reel slots remain a popular choice among gaming enthusiasts wherever they play.

Although slot machines have evolved during the past century into electronic multi-game wonders, the object of the original game remains the same: make a wager, line up matching symbols on a pay line and win a jackpot. Today, slot machines are a mainstay of most online and land-based casinos, and Fey's classic 1895 3 Reels Slots machine started it all.