1. A thin opening, hole, or slit in something. Used to put in money, letters, postcards, etc. You can also use the term to refer to a position, time slot, or a vacancy. “He slotted a coin into the slot of the machine.” 2. A period of time or the allowance for an activity. “I have a meeting scheduled at 10 am, but I need to slot in an appointment at 9am.”
3. A computer-generated sequence of numbers that determines the outcome of a spin.
In modern slot machines, random number generators (RNGs) generate thousands of numbers per second and determine the results of each spin. On a traditional mechanical machine, these numbers are recorded on physical reels; on a video slot, they appear on the screen. Each stop on the reel corresponds to a symbol, and the computer assigns a specific probability to each of them. For example, a blue symbol might appear once every 100 spins, while an orange one might come up once every 50, and a yellow one might show up only once in five.
The odds of winning are based on how many matching symbols are aligned on the pay table. Depending on the game, this can be anywhere from three to seven identical symbols, or even just one matching symbol in the center. Some games also have additional bonus features that are activated when certain combinations of symbols land. Often, these bonuses are aligned with the game’s theme. Generally, players can view the pay table by clicking on a trophy icon or what looks like a chart or grid icon in the game interface.
