One-armed bandit

...The first machine was the Liberty Bell, created by American engineer Charles Fey in 1895, and by the beginning of the 20th century, it had become popular in gambling halls all over the country. Because it only had one lever, it was also called the one-armed bandit, and in the UK it was also called the fruit machine because many of the illustrations featured fruit. It has enduring popularity because it allows bets of small amounts, and in Las Vegas alone, there are more than 20,000 machines that generate annual revenues of $700 million.

*Some of the terminology that refers to "one-armed bandit" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…1895年にアメリカの技師フェイCharles Feyが製作した〈リバティ･ベル〉が最初とされ，20世紀に入ると各地の賭博場に普及した。レバーが1本なので，別称をone‐armed bandit(隻腕の悪党)といい，絵に果物が多く用いられるところからイギリスではfruit machineともいう。小額で賭けられるため根強い人気があり，ラス･ベガスだけでも2万台以上が年間7億ドルの収益をあげているという。…

※「one-armed bandit」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報