Slot Terms Glossary

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Bonnie Evans | May 30, 2022 | Updated on: February 19th, 2024

Learning about slot terms is something that will help US players get a better hang of playing slots online or at land-based casinos. Slots are one of the most popular games at casino sites and being able to understand what’s going on is a great advantage. Therefore, finding a comprehensive guide of slot terminology is important.

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Read on below for a comprehensive slots gambling glossary.

# – D Slot Terms

  • 243 Ways to Win Slot: When winning combinations of symbols appear anywhere on the screen.
  • Action: This refers to the total amount played by the bettor, including amounts won or lost in the session.
  • All Pays Slot: A game that doesn’t use a traditional pay line system to regulate winnings.
  • Basic Slot: A slot game with a few features, fixed jackpot, and a single payline.
  • Bet Max: The largest possible wager you can make on a particular slot. Players can use the bet max button most games have that allows them to quickly place the bet.
  • Betting Unit: Refers to the measurement of the size of someone’s bet.
  • Big Hit: Hitting a slot’s high-paying combination of symbols.
  • Bonus Feature: The side game or distinct additional activity separate from the main slot game’s regular mode. Usually includes things like wild symbols, free spins, and scatter symbols.
  • Buy-a-Pay Slot: A game where each coin wagered opens a new tier of payouts.
  • Carousel: Refers to a group of slot games that share a common feature, usually the denomination.
  • Classic Casino SlotAnother word for the three-reel slot. The first slot machines had three barrels.
  • Coin In, Coin Out (CICO): The total number of credits put in and payed out of a machine.
  • Coins: Also known as credits. These can vary in denomination, from a penny to $5 and more.
  • Coin Size: The amount that each coin or credit is worth of a player’s selected denomination.
  • Cold Machine: A slot machine that isn’t going to payout anytime soon.
  • Compensated Items (Comps): These are free items or points that are given to players rewarding their loyalty. The more gamblers play and deposit at the casino, the more points they receive.
  • Console Slot: Games with features that make gameplay more comfortable for the player.
  • Credits: Another word for coins. Money inserted into the game is converted into credits based on the coin size of the game.
  • Denomination: The value of each credit. There is also a fixed credit feature or a feature that allows players to choose their denomination.
  • Double Symbol: This is a symbol or a set of symbols that multiplies a payout when it’s part of a winning combination. Furthermore, triple symbols are also common.

F – L Slot Terms

  • Five-Reel Slot: A slot game that has five-reels. It retains the traditional feel of the three-reel slot but has more paylines, increasing the potential for wins.
  • Fixed Jackpot: Opposite to the progressive jackpot, the jackpot will payout the same fixed amount regardless of how many people play or how often the jackpot is won.
  • Fixed-Value Slot: Slot games that have an unchangeable betting amount or coin size.
  • Free Spins: A bonus feature which gives players one free round of play.
  • Hit: A winning spin.
  • Hit Frequency: This is a theoretical number that predicts how often a slot game pays out relative to the total number of games played.
  • Hit and Run: When players play a single payline slot at max credit for a few spins and move on to another one if there’s no payout.
  • High Volatility: A high volatility slot doesn’t payout often. However, they give out higher payouts.
  • Hold Percentage: A theoretical number that shows how much of a player’s money the game retains.
  • Hot Machine: The opposite of a cold machine, this refers to a game that’s about to payout.
  • Jackpot: It’s the highest-value prize paid out by a slot machine.
  • Line Bet: The active paylines on a given multi-payline slot.
  • Linked Progressive Slot: A slot that has an ever-increasing jackpot that’s connected to a network of two or more other slots. The more people play these games, the larger the jackpot gets.
  • Loose Slots: Slots that have a higher payout percentage than the average game.
  • Low Volatility. Opposite of high volatility, these slots generate more hits but their payout will be lower than a high volatility game.

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M – S Slot Terms

  • Max Bet: Like the bet max, this is the most coins a player can bet on a spin.
  • Multi-Line: Betting on more than one payline in order to increase their chances of winning.
  • Multiplier: A specific type of symbol that increases the payout. They can range from either 2x to a 50x.
  • Near-Miss: Slang slot term for a combination that’s close to a payout.
  • Nudge Slot: A bonus feature in a game that bumps near-miss combinations into a winning combo.
  • One-Armed Bandit: Popular slang term for a slot machine.
  • Payback Percentage: A theoretical number which refers to the amount of money a slot game returns to a player. It should only be used as a guide.
  • Payline: The line that, if a particular pattern shows up, determines the amount a player wins. They’re activated when a player bets on them before spinning.
  • Payout: The amount paid by a slot for a specific combination of symbols.
  • Payout Percentage: Similar to a payback percentage, it’s the amount you’ll receive from a slot game.
  • Penny Slot: A game that accepts pennies as its basic denomination.
  • Progressive Jackpot: A constantly growing prize amount available to slot player who are playing on a group of interlinked slot machines.
  • Progressive Slot: A slot that has a growing jackpot built from a portion of all the wagers played into it.
  • Random Number Generator (RNG): Software in online slots that makes sure that the results generated by the slot are fair.
  • Reels: The part of a slot game that has the symbols on it. These are spun to create combinations.
  • Scatter symbol: This symbol doesn’t have to appear in any sort of order, payline, or reel to trigger a bonus feature.
  • Second-Screen Bonus: Refers to video slot features that happen on another screen apart from the standard slot game.
  • Short Win: Landing a jackpot-winning combo but don’t win it because there’s a low credit or low denomination bet.
  • Slot Tournament: A special event where players compete for prizes at specified slot games.
  • Slot Type: The kind of slot game players wager at.
  • Sound of Rain: Refers to the sound the coins make when there’s a hit.
  • Spin: A round of slot play.
  • Symbols: Images on the reels that line up to form combinations.

T – Z Slot Terms

  • Take/Pay Cycle: This cycle is based on the fallacy that slots payout in a specific pattern.
  • Three-Reel Slot: Also known as a classic slot. It describes a slot machine with three reels.
  • Tight Slot: Opposite of loose slots. Slots that have a lower payout percentage than average games.
  • Total Bet: The total number of credits multiplied by the chosen denominations.
  • Wide-Area Progressive: The largest of all progressive payouts, these are slots that have a progressive jackpot. Usually, they are operated in a network of top paying us online casinos.
  • Wild Symbol: A symbol that stands in for other symbols which creates a winning combination.
  • Winning Combination: A collection of symbols on a payline that give a hit.

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