A narrow depression or notch, especially one for receiving or admitting something, such as a coin or a letter. A position, usually in a sequence or series: the slot for the new chief copy editor. Linguistics: a functional element in a construction in which a particular morpheme can be inserted, as in “a word in the slot”.
Slot is also a term used to describe an expansion port on a motherboard. This may refer to an ISA (Industry Standard Architecture), PCI, or AGP expansion slot. It could also be a memory slot.
In a slot machine, the player inserts cash or, in “ticket-in, ticket-out” machines, a paper ticket with a barcode into a slot on the machine. The machine then displays symbols on its screen, and, if the player matches them to a winning combination, the machine awards credits based on its pay table. The payouts can vary widely from machine to machine.
Manufacturers have the option to weight certain symbols on each reel, giving them a higher or lower chance of appearing. This gives the appearance that a given symbol appears more frequently on a particular reel, but this is only an illusion.
A good tip is to always test out a machine before making a large wager. Put in a small amount and see how long it takes for you to break even. If it only takes a few dollars to break even, then that machine is probably not a loose one.