Online gaming has been available worldwide for some time, although real-money games are still restricted in selected jurisdictions. Notably in the USA, where playing online slots is still prohibited, except for a couple of US States. But no matter where you are in the world, you can always play free slots online.
“Slot Machines” is a term used mostly in America, and it is derived from the way these games used to be played. There was a “slot” on the front of the machine where the player would insert a coin – or coins – and then pull the handle to see if they won something. But today’s slots no longer use coins, and so none of them have this “slot” on them. Play is usually initiated by the deposit of currency through the bill validator, or the use of “credits” or “tokens” to initiate play. And that’s how free slots in online casinos also work – with tokens for your play.
Online casinos everywhere have a wide selection of great casino slots, many of which have traditional titles and configurations – just like the slots used to have in the real casinos. And that’s one of the features of free slots, because here you can play many games which may no longer be available on the casino floor – as well as brand new games, which you may only be able to find in that casino which features these free slots.
So when you find your favorite online casino, and game, all you have to do is start playing. All of these online casinos have games which come pre-loaded with play credits, and so you can start to play your favorite free slots right away. And in many cases, no downloads are needed.
Sometimes you may be asked to open an account – or to sign up – but that too is a free process, so no matter how you look at it, playing these games is fun, easy, and you can do it immediately – no fuss!
And by the way – the reason why these games are created the way they are, is because that’s how these slot machines were first designed by their inventor, Charles Fey, in San Francisco, USA, in 1895. They were then known as “One Armed Bandits” because of their dismal paybacks.
But curiously, many of these early slot machines were also configured as free slots. That’s because by the turn of the 20th century, all gambling was made illegal in the USA, and so these machines were ostensibly used only as promotional and advertising games which dispensed chewing gum or fruit lollies (that’s “candy” for those outside of the British Commonwealth) – and that’s how they also got the name “fruit machines.” And that’s how they are still mostly known in the UK and Europe, while in Australia they call them “pokies.” Why? No one knows for sure – because they actually have nothing in common with poker, which is an entirely different kind of game.
As we were researching material for this article, we also discovered how great it was to find many of our favorite classic casino slots – those which are no longer around in the real casinos – but can be found online as free slots.
We found ourselves immersed in these games, along with a trip down memory lane, and a lot of nostalgia for the way that real-world casinos used to be. So that’s another advantage that we found in online free slots – and that’s a way to revisit great games from the past, and remember all the fun we had with them. And now, of course, also the fun we can still have by playing then online.
By: The Staff at Casino Life Magazine
