1. a slit or other narrow opening, esp. one for receiving something, as a coin or letter. 2. a place or position, as in a game or a job. 3. a time or space for doing something, as an appointment or a meeting: He slotted in his schedule a meeting with his clients.
In a casino, slot is a machine that pays out winning combinations of symbols according to the paytable. Players can insert cash or, in ticket-in, ticket-out machines, a paper ticket with a barcode into a designated slot on the machine to activate it. The reels then spin and stop to rearrange the symbols in a winning combination, earning the player credits based on the payout table. Symbols vary depending on the theme of the game, but classic symbols include fruits, bells, and stylized lucky sevens.
The slot is a key component of the machine’s programming that determines the outcomes for each spin. When the “Play” button is pressed, a computer generates what’s known as an RNG (random number generator), which selects a series of random numbers from millions of possible combinations. This information is fed into the slot’s computer system, and it then selects a set of symbols from each reel displayed to the player. In addition, the odds of hitting a particular symbol are weighted differently from reel to reel. That’s why you sometimes see a machine appear to be “hot” for a while, then suddenly lose its luster and become deader than the Dodo bird.