Lever

A handle pulled to trigger the spinning of slot machine reels on the old mechanical slot machines.

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Slot machines no longer need levers to initiate the spinning process. Those slots which continue to have levers do so for aesthetics purposes, or for the entertainment of customers who might enjoy playing slot machines as they were played in a bygone day.

In an earlier generation of slot machines, players would place their coins in the machine, then pull the slot machine lever. This would start the mechanical process of the slots reels spinning. Because the lever usually jutted from the slot machine and reminded some players of an arm, casino gamblers sometimes referred to slot machines as one-armed bandits. The term still applies today in the post-lever era.

Once electronic slot machines were designed, the need for a lever to initiate the spinning reels were no longer need. Players could simply hit the "Spin" button, much like they would on a video game (one of many influences from video games, including many of the concepts used on video slots). Today, that is the preferred design for slot machines, even most Classic 3-reel slots.