A narrow opening into which something can be inserted, as in a machine to receive coins. Also used of a position in a series or sequence, such as a time slot in a program or schedule. The term was originally a slit or groove in wood or metal, but it soon came to mean a hole for receiving a coin or similar object. Also used of a position in an organization or hierarchy, as when talking about the ‘slot’ that a person holds in a team.
A slot in a machine is the place where a player inserts cash or, in “ticket-in/ticket-out” machines, a paper ticket with a barcode. Once a machine is activated, the reels spin and, when the winning combination of symbols appears, the player earns credits according to a pay table. The pay tables can be displayed on the screen as small tables, often in different colours, or within a help menu.
Bonus rounds are increasingly popular in online slots and often involve free spins, a mystery pick game or a random win multiplier sequence. The details of each feature are usually listed in the pay table or in a help menu, and may vary between games.