If you have played a slot machine, you may have seen the bar symbol and wondered what this symbol actually means and why it is present among other fruits.
Some of you may actually think that it may represent any fruit itself. The bar symbol is one of the important features in three-reel slot games, which are based on the Fruit theme.
Some symbols used in three-reel slot games are cherries, lemons, oranges, a 7, plums, and most importantly, a BAR symbol.
In this article, we will go through what this symbol actually means, its history, payouts, and importance in slot games. So, let’s get started without wasting any time.
What is the Slot Machine Bar symbol?
Bar is one of the symbols used in slot games and represents payouts just like other fruit symbols. The bar is represented as being written in a small box. Their numbers vary by one to three stacked over each other.
It means that you will see a single bar as a symbol, two bars one over another as a single symbol, and three bars stacked over each other as a singular symbol.
Their payouts vary in different fruit games. Usually, they have the second-highest payout in the game and, in some games, a little lower. But have a payout bigger than most of the fruit symbols.
What does the Bar symbol mean in Slot Machines?
A bar actually is a gum brand from the United States. In the early 1900s, when gambling was banned in the United States, a Novelty industrial company came up with an idea to represent gum symbols on slot machines and give gums as their payouts.
Lemmon, cherries, and bar were the main flavors of their gums. The Bar was represented as an actual gum with “Bar” written on it in the early days, irrespective of the symbol that we see today where just Bar is written in a rectangle.
History of the Bar symbol
The Bar symbol’s history is theoretical; no one knows exactly how and why it was first introduced, and we come across two stories of its origin.
- Bar symbol was first introduced in 1909 by Mills Novelty Company where they introduced gums as their symbols. The Bar was a gum brand from their company. They used them as symbols and gave away payouts with the same bars that were represented as symbols.
- Another theory about its origin states that The Bell Fruit Gum Company was the first to introduce its gum in slot games for promotion. The Bar first represented was slightly larger, and payouts were given in the form of gum bars, too.
Slot Machines Bar Payouts in the 1900s
While the anti-gambling laws in the United States were being implemented and getting stronger, to keep the slot machines alive came up with this idea, and for the first time, non-cash payouts were being given in the form of gums.
- Players were getting a payout of gums. The symbol on the reel where the spin stops, the specific symbol gum, was given as a payout.
- The highest prize was considered as getting a bar symbol on your wheel spin, The payout on which was a gum with “BAR” written on it.
Does the Bar symbol still exist?
The bar symbol is still used in traditional classic slot machine games. You will see them most commonly on traditional three-reel slot games where people still love to see the Bar symbol on their reels.
However, many slot machine themes have been developed in the modern era. You will only see the Bar Symbol on a Fruit-themed slot machine where it still exits.
Modern slot machines are developed on themes of movies, comics, games, events and many more.
One of the examples is Marve’s themed slot game, where you will only see the characters from the Marvel comic as a symbol on the Slot machine.
The Bar is not represented as a symbol there. It is only a Fruit theme slot machine symbol and if you want to play a slot machine game with the Bar symbol, you will have to go for a traditional classic Fruit themed slot game.
Most Popular Games with Bar Symbols
There are a lot of classic games still present to the day where you will see bar symbols. They are given below, along with their payouts.
1. Twin Spin
Twin Spin is a classic 3-reel slot game developed by NetEnt. This game is based on the Fruit theme.
The main feature of the game is Twin reels and their payouts were determined on its basis. If you hit the Twin reel and the spin, instead of three reels, you get three to 5 random reels with the same symbols and wild symbols on them.
If you manage to get three identical reels out of them, you win. If you get all five twin reels, you get a jackpot.
As for the Bar symbol, its payout is given below.
- Three Twin Bar reels will pay 15 coins.
- Four twin Bar reels will pay 100 coins.
- Five twin Bar reels will pay 400 coins.
2. Progressive Diamond Jackpot
Progressive Diamond Jackpot is a slot game developed by Betsoft. The game’s theme is 70’s style Las Vegas one payline slot.
There are four symbols of the game, which are cherries, 7, Diamond, and the BAR symbol.
The bar symbol is shown in three forms: single, double, and triple on a stacked form. You may get a single Bar, two bars in a single symbol, and three bars in a single symbol.
The payouts of the game are given below.
- The higher the number of bars, the higher the payout.
- Matching three bars on a single reel will pay four coins.
- One cherry will pay 2 coins.
- Two cherries will pay 4 coins.
3. Retro Reels: Diamond Glitz
Retro Reels is a classic slot game developed by Microgaming. The game theme is based on luxury and fortune. The symbols used in the games are diamonds, bells, cherries, 7, and a bar.
This game also represents the bar in three forms; single, double, and triple stacked form. The payouts are also given below.
- Three different bar symbols will pay 5 coins.
- Four different bar symbols will pay 20 coins.
- Five different bar symbols will pay 75 coins.
Conclusion
The Bar is a historical sign that is used as a symbol in slot machine games and represents a Gum brand from Novelty Industrial Company.
It is represented in fruit-themed slot games and has been used in hundreds of different games to this day its payout is different in all games and depends upon the game reels and paylines. After reading this article, you now know what Bar means and what is its history.
Read More: What is the secret to winning Double Diamond Slot Machine?
Pingback: Blackjack Strategy: Playing 16 vs 10 Blackjack