Thursday 6 May 2021

My Casino Slot Story - Retro to Modern Age

Back in the day, I remember going on holiday to a small coastal seaside resort called Caister-on-sea, Norfolk, England. It was our family holiday and we couldn't have been happier. A time to enjoy all those pleasures which come with a vacation: sun, sea and a little bit of gambling. Considering I was about seven years olds it was an exciting time.

That's when I went into the arcade and saw this old retro Jenning's Indian Head slot machine. It stood tall on a pedestal, all chrome, lights shining in semi-darkness of what was a smoke-filled room. Remember, this was back in the 70s. Even then the old Jenning's was classed as a vintage machine (boardering on a collectors item). It was one of just a few sitting proudly against the newer models, which for most gamblers, attracted there attention. Just think how this dinosaur of the gambling age would compare with casino slot games such as Mystino slots in an online world. Within my generation, gambling on the slots has literally been transformed. 

From the old to the new. 

I didn't realise at the time I was playing a vintage slot machine that would later in life be worth several thousand pounds. I remember putting a 2p in the slot, pulling the handle (one armed bandit) which took all my strength. And this clunky machine kicked into action, the three reels spinning and one by one coming to a shuddering halt to reveal a win or a loss. 

I'm not sure if I won the jackpot, but I do recall seeing three cherries on the win line and the silver trough filled with lots of copper coins. 

Now in my 50s, I have considered buying one of these old retro slot machines. They are just as much a piece of artwork as a gambling devise, if not a good idea for a money box. It's funny, that as children my dad, who loved to gamble, bought my brother and I a slot machine for our Christmas present. It was a pretty old model from the 70s, not cloaked in chrome, although it was lots of fun. I loved that slot machine. 

It was the best present I ever received. 

How cool that your dad buys you a slot machine. Most parents would have been horrified by the thought of suggesting that children should (or could) gamble if they so wished.

Did it turn me into an addict? 

No. 

It just gave me a realistic idea of what gambling was all about and I rarely play slot machines these days but I have and do.

The greatest aspect of online gambling is that you can do it from your own home, laying in bed if you so wish, in your pjs munching on a BLT, and drinking from a can of beer. Either way, you can try your luck and hope to win some cash. 

It's good to think back to those wonder years of innocently gambling on a slot machine that was probably forty years old and I was just seven. 

A budding gambler if you have ever seen one. 

I look back on that time with fondness as it paved the way to a gambling world of true convenience. 

Which do you prefer: The old retro slot machine or the modern online world?

It's great to have the choice.

Photo: Pixabay free no attribution