A slot is a narrow opening, hole, or groove for receiving something, such as a coin or a letter. It can also refer to a position or time: “She was given the morning slot.” (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.)
A place or position in a sequence or series, or a window, niche, or other vacancy: “We reserved a table for four in the slot next to the fireplace.” (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.)
A device for fastening or locking a door or window: “The old wooden windows had slots for bolts.” (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition.)
A space in a computer for storing data: “The disk has three slots.” (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition.)
A space in a game or other electronic entertainment: “I haven’t played a slot machine for years, but I think it might be time to try one again.”
The chance of a winning combination on a slot machine: “I think I should give that slot another shot — maybe it will be my lucky day.”
Random number generators: “A random number generator is the core of every modern slot machine. It generates random numbers each millisecond, and then determines which symbols will appear on the reels.”
Paytables:
“A pay table displays a game’s regular paying symbols and their payout values. It can also include details on bonus features, if applicable. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the pay table before playing a new slot machine.”
In the past, when a machine displayed two identical symbols on the same payline, it was considered lucky and likely to be a winner. But with the advent of microprocessors, manufacturers were able to assign different weightings to the symbols on each reel, and thus change the probability that the two would land together. This made the appearance of a single symbol on a payline seem more frequent, although in reality the chances were still completely random. As a result, many people became enthralled by the notion that a particular machine was “due to hit.” But such ideas are now strictly forbidden. Only spins that produce a winning combination will be paid out. All other spins are simply ignored by the random number generator.
