In 1889 a young San Francisco mechanic named Charles Fey invented the modern slot machine. The early one-armed bandits had hearts, spades and diamonds on the wheels instead of cherries and fruit we see today. This first slot machine was called the Liberty Bell and the big payoff, when three bells lined up, was ten nickels. Thousands of slot machines were built by Fey and distributed throughout the country. Fey would split the profits fifty-fifty with the owners of the bars, clubs and casinos where he installed them because he refused to sell the rights to his unique machine. However, since gambling devices could not be patented, many imitations appeared after Hubert Miles of Illinois started making similar machine in 1907. You can still see Fey's original slot machine in Reno at the Liberty Bell restaurant on South Virginia Street.