243 Ways to Win slot: | a game that doesn’t consider pay lines when determining wins and payouts. Instead, winning combinations of symbols can appear anywhere on the screen. |
Action: | refers to a gambler’s total amount played, plus any amount they’ve won or lost for a given session. |
All pays slot: | a category of games that don’t use the traditional pay line system to determine winnings. |
Basic slot: | games with few features, a single pay line, and a fixed top jackpot. |
Bet Max: | to place a wager equal to the largest possible bet for a particular slot. Many slots also have a “bet max” button on case that allows gamblers to quickly place the game’s top per-spin wager. Often required to gain access to a game’s largest payouts. |
Betting unit: | refers to hitting a slot’s top-paying combination of symbols. |
Big hit: | refers to hitting a slot’s top-paying combination of symbols. |
Bonus feature: | a side game or other special activity distinct from a game’s regular mode. Can include things like wild symbols, scatter symbols, and free spins. |
Buy-a-pay slot: | a game in which each coin you wager activates a new tier of payouts. Placing the maximum number of coins leads to the largest payouts. |
Carousel: | a name for a group of slot machines sharing a common feature, usually denomination. |
CICO: (Coin In, Coin Out) | an industry term referring to the total number of credits played in and paid out of a machine. |
Coins: | another term for “credits.” Slots accept credits in a variety of denominations, from a penny to five dollars and more. |
Coin size: | refers to a gambler’s chosen denomination, the amount that each coin (or credit) is worth. |
Comps: | short for “compensated items,” comps are freebies given to slot players by the casino as a reward for their loyalty. Players must join a slot club and swipe their card before playing each machine in order to have their action tracked. Comps range from free drinks and room upgrades to larger prizes, depending on how much a player spends. |
Console slot: | games with built-in features designed to be more comfortable for the player. These days, console slots have screens which can be placed in different angles, built-in seats, and customizable brightness settings. |
Credits: | another word for “coins.” When gamblers insert a $20 bill in a slot machine, that cash is converted into credits, based on the coin size of the game. |
Denomination: | the value of each credit. Some games feature fixed credit values, others allow you to choose your denomination. |
Double symbol: | a symbol (or set of symbols) that doubles a payout when it’s part of a winning combination. Triple symbols are also common. |
Fixed-value slot: | games in which the betting amount and/or coin size cannot be altered. Some of these games allow for multiple credit wagers, which gives the player some control over the size of each spin. |
Free spin: | a bonus feature in which the player earns one free round of play. |
Fruit machine: | UK slang term for slot machine. Most games of this type are basic slots with few features. |
Hit frequency: | a theoretical number referring to how often a given slot machine pays out a prize of any amount, relative to the total number of games played. |
Hold percentage: | a theoretical number that refers to the amount of a player’s money a slot machine retains. |
Jackpot: | either the highest-value prize paid out by a given slot machine, or (used more generically) any prize paid out by a machine. |
Line bet: | the number of active pay lines on a given multi-payline slot. |
Linked progressive slot: | a slot that pays out an ever-increasing top prize connected to a network of two or more games. These games produce larger progressive jackpots because more players are paying into them. |
Low-level slot: | any game that includes a built-in seat or chair. |
Multiplier: | a specific type of bonus slot feature where a payout is increased, usually between 2x and 10x. |
Near-miss: | player slang for a result that’s incredibly close to a payout. |
Nudge slot: | games that include a particular bonus feature in which near-miss combinations are occasionally bumped into a winning combo. |
One-armed-bandit: | popular slang for a slot machine. |
Payback percentage: | a theoretical number that refers to the amount of money a particular slot machine will return to a player. Because this number is based on an infinite number of wagers, it should be used only as a guide. |
Pay line: | an invisible line that moves across the reels of a slot. Winning combinations only pay out prizes when they appear on one of these invisible lines. Must be activated by the player, usually with a wager. Sometimes spelled “payline.” |
Payout: | the amount paid by a slot for a specific combination of symbols. Sometimes spelled “pay out.” |
Pay table: | a chart posted on the slot machine’s case (or on the display) that indicates the payout for various winning combinations, as well as any specific game or bonus rules. |
Penny slot: | a slot which accepts pennies as its basic denomination. Because of the cost of activating multiple pay lines, most modern penny slots don’t really cost $0.01 per spin. |
Pokie: | Australian slang term for “slot machine.” |
Progressive slot: | a game with an ever-increasing jackpot built from tiny portions of all the wagers played into it. |
Real stop slot: | a game that allows players to skill-stop each reel, one at a time. Rare on casino floors these days. |
Reels: | refers to the sets of symbols that spin and stop to determine winning combinations. |
RNG: (Random Number Generator) | a piece of software that produces random numbers within a certain range. Used by modern slot machines to randomize results. |
Scatter symbol: | a symbol that doesn’t have to appear in any specific combination or on any specific reels or lines in order to trigger a bonus feature. |
Second-screen bonus: | an industry term that refers to video slot game features that take place on a separate screen from the standard slot game. |
Short win: | refers to hitting a combination that should lead to a huge jackpot, but doesn’t because of a low-credit or low-denomination wager. |
Slot club: | member’s-only programs offered by casinos to track their play in exchange for comps and other rewards. |
Slot host: | a casino employee whose job it is to assist serving customers at slot machines. Usually performs all necessary hand-pays. |
Slot machine: | a gambling game that pays prizes based on random combinations of symbols. |
Slot tournament: | an event that brings slots players together to compete for a set of specific prizes on a pool of specific games. |
Spin: | refers to one round of slot machine play. |
Symbols: | images on the reels of a slot machine that must be lined up in various combinations to win. Can be anything – traditional symbols include fruit, numbers, and playing cards. |
Tilt: | a slot malfunction that usually requires the attention of a host and possibly a mechanic. |
TITO: (Ticket In, Ticket Out) | refers to a specific type of slot game that prints a ticket with your winning amount when you cash out. Can then be inserted in a different machine to continue playing. Most modern casinos have switched to the use of plastic cards rather than tickets. |
Total bet: | refers to the total number of credits multiplied by the chosen denomination. |
Video slots: | refers to a category of slot games that use a video screen to display virtual reels. The vast majority of slots on modern casino floors are video slots. |
Wide-area progressive: | games with ever-increasing jackpots, linked between different online or land-based casinos. They the largest of all possible progressive payouts, since a huge number of people are paying into their jackpots. |