Slot Machine Glossary

A

● Action : The total amount of money wagered on a slot machine in a session or

over a different time frame.

● All Ways: An online slot that has hundreds of possible paylines, both running

left-to-right and right-to-left.

● Always Plays Slots: A category of games that don't use the traditional pay line

system to determine winnings.

● Annuity Winner : Some slot machine jackpots are offered in installments over a

number of years. The winnings may be collected in one lump sum but there is

usually a significant tax when this is done.

● Autospin: Feature allowing slots players to automatically set the game to spin

reels.

● AWP (Amusement With Prizes): Classic-style slots with fruit symbols. Stands

for ‘Amusement With Prizes'

B

● Bank of Slot Machines: A group or row of machines sitting beside each other.

● Bars: A common symbol you’ll see on many slot machines.

● Basic Slots : The simplest slot machines are one line or basic slots. Usually

using only three reels, these slot machines are what dominated casino floors

before all of the video slots became popular.

● Bet Max Button : The bet max button automatically places a wager of the

maximum amount based on your coin size.

● Bet One Button : This button places a bet of a single coin when pushed.

● Betting Units or Credits : A betting unit or credit is based on the size of coin

you’re using and how much money you have in the machine.

● Big Bertha Slot Machine : A marketing gimmick in the form of a huge slots

game. Usually placed near a main entrance to the casino floor, these machines

can have multiple reels and take up as much space as a regular bank of

machines.

● Big Hit : A big win.

● Bonus Feature : A bonus feature can be a different game entirely or include a

mini movie or just be a different area with reels like the main game.

● Bonus Multiplier or Bonus Modifier : A bonus modifier or multiplier is a symbol

or series of symbols that multiply a win by a certain amount.

● Branded Slots : Branded slot machines are themed after popular television

shows or movie franchises.

● Buy-a-play 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.

C

● Candle: A light on top of the slot machine. It flashes to alert the operator that

change is needed, hand pay is requested, or a potential problem with the

machine. It can be lit by the player by pressing the “service” or “help” button.

● Carousel: A name for a group of slot machines sharing a common feature,

usually denomination.

● Certified Slots : A certified slot machine has a payback percentage that’s been

certified and is then advertised by the casino.

● Coin In and Coin Out : Coin in is the total amount of coins or credits played in a

machine. Coin out is the total amount of coins paid out of the machine.

● Coin Hopper: A container where the coins that are immediately available for

payouts are held.

● Coins :The size of the base wager on a slot machine.

● Coin Size : The coin size is the amount each coin is worth.

● Cold Slots : A cold slot machine is one that hasn’t paid out in a long time.

● Collect: A button or option on the slot machine that enables the slots player to

convert their credits into cash.

● Comps : Short for “compensated items,” comps are freebies given to slot players

by the casino as a reward for their loyalty.

● Console Slot: Games with built-in features designed to be more comfortable for

the player.

● Credits : A credit is the slot machines equivalent to coins. When you insert coins

or bills into the machine you are awarded one credit for each coin. You are also

awarded credits for winning spins. Each credit awarded is equivalent to one coin.

You can turn your credits back into coins by pressing the Cash Out button on the

machine.

D

● Denomination : The size of the coin for the slot machines. Some machines let

you change the denomination but some have a set coin size.

● Double Symbol: A symbol that doubles a payout when it's part of a winning

combination.

● Drop Bucket: A container located in a slot machine's base where excess coins

are diverted from the hopper.

● Drops: A new feature of online slots where symbols fall into place on the reels.

F

● Fill: New bag of coins used to refresh an empty hopper.

● Five Line Slot or Five Liner : A five line slot machine has five possible pay lines.

● Fixed Value Slots : A fixed value slot machines has only one size bet available.

● Free Play : Slots that can be played without risking any money.

● Free Spins : A bonus feature in which the player earns one free round of play.

● Fruit Machine: UK slang term for slot machine.

G

● Gamble: Common feature which lets you try to double your winnings on a spin.

● Games Per Hour: On average, slots players can play about five hundred games

per hour on a standard coin operated slot machine.

H

● Hammer A Machine : Hammering a slot machine is a slang term used to

describe playing a single machine for hours on end.

● Hand Pay: A payout made by an attendant or at an exchange point rather than

by the slot machine itself.

● Hit and Run : Hit and run describes a slots player who plays a few spins on a

machine and then moves on to the next machine.

● Hit Frequency : Hit frequency is how often a slot machine pays out a winning

hand.

● Hold and Respin Game: A slot machine that permits the player to hold the

results of one or more reels and spin the remaining reels a second time in an

attempt to improve the result.

● Hold Percentage : The hold percentage is how much the slot machine keeps as

a percentage of total play or action for the casino.

● Hopper: Where the money is stored inside the machine. When the hopper

overflows, the excess change flows over into a bucket.

● Hopper Fill Slip: A document used to record the replenishment of the coin in

the coin hopper after it becomes depleted as a result of making payouts to

players.

● Hot Slots or Hot Slot Machine : A hot slot machine is the opposite of a cold one.

A hot machine seems to be paying out at a higher than average rate.

I

● Icons : Slot symbols.

● Instant Winner: An on the spot jackpot rather than an annuity jackpot where the

jackpot is paid out over a number of years.

● i-Slot : Immersive online slot.

J

● Jackpot: The highest payout on a slot machine.

L

● Line Bet: A line bet refers to the activated paylines on multiple payline slot

machines.

● Linked Progressive Jackpot : A linked progressive jackpot or wide area

progressive is two or more slot machines whose progressive jackpots are linked.

● Loose Slots : A slot machine that is paying out well.

● Low Level or Slant Top : Slot machines which include a stool so the player has

sitdown access.

M

● Max Bet : The maximum amount of coins that you can play per spin

● MEAL book (Machine entry authorization log): A log of the employee's entries

into the machine.

● Megabucks: Popular land-based slot by IGT which holds the world record for a

progressive jackpot payout ($37 million).

● Mega Fortune: Popular online slot from Net Entertainment which holds the

online record for a progressive jackpot payout (€17 million).

● Multi-line: A slot machine with more than one payline. Slot machines may have

several paylines.

● Multiplier: A specific type of bonus slot feature where a payout is increased,

usually between 2x and 10x.

N

● Near Miss : When a symbol lands just above or below a line that would have

made a nice pay out.

● Nickel Slots : Nickel slot machines are ones using a 5 cent coin size.

● Nudge Slot : A nudge slot machine moves a symbol that’s close to making a

winning combination the little extra it needs to line up for a win.

O

● One Armed Bandit : A one armed bandit is a term for a slot machine with a lever

on the side.

● One Liner or One Line Machine : A one line slot machine only has a single pay

line.

● Onesies: Onesies is slot player slang for a slots player who plays only one coin

or one credit at a time for each spin of the slot machine reels.

● Online Slots: A game played on a PC or Mac via the Internet.

● Optimal Pay: A payback percentage based on a gambler using the optimal

strategy in a skill-based slot machine game.

P

● Payback Percentage : Payback percentage is the amount of money the slot

machine pays back as a percentage of the amount wagered through a machine.

● Pay for Play: These are generally one-two-three coins option slot machines with

staggered payoffs. The more coins you put the better the payoffs.

● Pay Line or Payline : A pay line is a line where matching symbols must line up to

match winning combinations listed on the pay table.

● Payout or Pay Out : A payout is how much you get for a specific winning

combination of symbols.

● Pay Table : The pay table is the screen or card that explains which matching

symbols pay and how much they pay.

● Penny Slots : 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.

● Pookie: Australian slang term for “slot machine.”

● Primary Jackpot : A primary jackpot is the top paying jackpot on a machine that

has more than one jackpot.

● Progressive Slot Machines : A progressive slot machine has a top payout that

grows with each spin.

Q

● Quarter Slots: A slot machine with a set coin amount of 25 cents.

R

● Reels : Refers to the sets of symbols that spin and stop to determine winning

combinations.

● Reel Stop: A reel stop is one single position on the reel of the slot machine

● RNG (Random Number Generator) : A piece of software that produces random

numbers within a certain range. Used by modern slot machines to randomize

results.

● Rollup: The process of dramatizing a win by playing sounds while the meters

count up to the amount that has been won.

S

● Scatter Symbol : A special symbol that can land anywhere on the reels and still

pay out or unlocks a bonus of some sort without landing on particular lines.

● Scatter Play: A winning combination in which the individual jackpot symbols are

not required to line up on a single pay line, common on video slot machines.

● Second Screen Bonus : A second screen bonus opens on a second or different

screen from the regular game play screen.

● Secondary Jackpot : Some slot machines have more than one jackpot. The

highest jackpot is called a primary and all of the others are called secondary

jackpots.

● Select Lines : Used to select the pay lines you want to activate for the next spin.

● 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 Host: A casino employee whose job it is to assist serving customers at slot

machines.

● Slot Machine: A gambling game that pays prizes based on random

combinations of symbols.

● Slot Machine Tournament : A slot machine tournament is when you pay a set

entry fee and play for a set period of time for the chance to win cash and prizes.

● Slots Club or Player’s Club : The slots club or player’s club offers rewards or

comps for your slots play. The more you play the higher the possible rewards.

● Slots Schedule : A slots schedule is another name for a pay chart or payout

chart.

● Sound of Rain : The sound of rain is an old saying that slots players used when

actual coins were used in the slot machines. The sound of rain was the sound of

coins hitting the metal tray at the bottom of the machine after a big win.

● Spin : Refers to one round of slot machine play.

● Stand Up: Slot machines you play standing up.

● Streaky Slots : A streaky slot machine is one that players believe runs hot or cold

in streaks.

● Symbols : The symbols are the pictures of different items on the reels of the slot

machine. You need to line matching symbols up on an activated pay line to win.

T

● Take: Based on the assumption that most slot machines work on cycles, it is

when to expect a machine to pay out following a certain amount of coins fed into

it.

● Taste: A reference to the small amount often paid out to keep a player seated

and continuously betting.

● Three Liner: A three liner is a slot machine with three reels where players must

line up three identical symbols in order to win the cash prize.

● Theoretical Hold Worksheet: A document provided by the manufacturer for all

slot machines, which indicates the theoretical percentage that the slot machine

should hold based on the amount paid in.

● Tight Machine: A slot machine that is not paying much out.

● Tilt: A slot malfunction that usually requires the attention of a host and possibly a

mechanic.

● TITO Ticket In / Ticket Out: Slot machines have mostly stopped accepting

coins and use cash and tickets to accept money and pay out money. You may

put cash or a ticket in the machine but when you cash out the machine prints a

ticket. You take the ticket to the cage when you’re ready to cash out.

● Tight Slots: A tight slot machine is one that seems to be paying out at a lower

than expected rate. It may be paying out fewer times than expected or fewer

coins than expected.

● Total Bet: The total bet is the total amount of coins or money wagered on a slot

machine for the current spin.

● Trail: Bonus feature where players progress round a track or ladder to gain more

prizes.

● Two Liner: A two liner is a reference to a slot machine that has two reels where

players line up three symbols and win, but line up six symbols and win double the

original win.

U

● Up/Down Slot Cycle: The payout percent of a slot machine fluctuates at any

given time because the average payout percent is calculated over a long period

of time. The up / down slot cycle refers to the fluctuations that occur during that

period of time.

V

● Video Slots : A video slot machine has a picture of reels on the screen, like a

video game.

● Virtual Reels: Virtual reel technology is what enables the RNG (random number

generator) to randomly select more non winning combinations than winning

combinations without having to add extra reels or larger reels.

● Volatility: The ratio of size versus frequency of jackpots in a slot game.

● Voucher or Ticket : A ticket is printed when you take money out of the slot

machine and you can exchange the ticket for cash.

W

● Wager Management: Wager management is a method of managing your slot

playing bankroll.

● WAP (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.

● Weight Count: Referring to the dollar amount of coins or tokens removed from a

slot machine's drop bucket or drop box and counted by the casino's hard count

team through the use of a weigh scale.

● Well: The well is the bin at the bottom of the slot machine that catches the coins

when a player cashes out.

● Wild Symbols : Wild symbols, usually found on video slot machines, are used in

place of other symbols to help you form winning pay line combinations.

● Win Both Ways: A slot that awards prizes for paylines running left-to-right and

right-to-left.

Z

● Zig Zag: Zig zag is a term used to describe the line that can be created on many

multi-line payout slot machines. Instead of the line going straight across the

screen or diagonal, the line is zig zag.