A narrow notch, groove or opening, such as a keyway in machinery or a slit for coins in a vending machine. Also: A period of time set aside for an activity: We booked a slot in the afternoon.
A slot is an area of a casino game or other electronic gaming machine where winning combinations of symbols line up on the payline to yield credits based on the pay table. Depending on the game, a payout may also be triggered by the appearance of a wild symbol or a progressive multiplier (where a win amount increases with each successive spin). Generally, the symbols and pay table are aligned with a theme.
In aviation, a slot is an authorization to take-off or land at a particular airport on a given day during a specified time period, and it is used to manage air traffic congestion. Slots are awarded by EUROCONTROL as part of its network management role, and they may be traded between airlines for a fee.
To play a slot machine, a player inserts cash or, in “ticket-in, ticket-out” machines, a paper ticket with a barcode. The machine then activates the reels, which spin and stop to randomly display combinations of symbols. Some machines display a pay table above or below the area containing the reels, and other machines, especially those with touchscreen displays, allow players to view the pay table as an interactive series of images that can be switched between.