Slots Lingo for the Savvy Player

Don't get left behind by your savvy grandparents. Know the lingo of the slots world so you can have fun and look good too. Here are some of common slot terms.

Bonus Game

A bonus game is a game inside the slot that's activated when certain symbols appear on the payline. It is a chance for you to win extra credits. When the game is over, you return to regular slot play.

Candle

A light that flashes in case of a mechanical problem with the slot machine.

Carousel

A lovely name for a group of slots in the casino.

Cash Out

Press this button to withdraw the money you've won, or what's left of your original deposit.

Cold

The opposite of a hot slot.

Hot

A slot that has been giving the player a lot of winning spins.

Loose

This term refers to loose slot machines with a high payback percentage. That means that slot machine has better odds for players to win.

Low Level / Slant Top

A slant top or low level slot machine has a chair you can sit on while playing. Older slots didn't have this feature. But casinos know better now. With a chair or stool, a player won't get tired sooner and thus will play slots longer.

Multi-Payline

Any slot with more than one payline is a multi-payline. These can be anywhere from 3 to 9 to 20 paylines. The payline can be vertical, horizontal, diagonal, criss-cross or anything else. Betting on multi-paylines is more costly, but the payoff is bigger.

Payline

Payline is a line on the slot machine in front of the reels. The symbols must fall there in specific ways to earn money for the player. In days when slots were simpler, the payline was a single horizontal line.

Payback Percentage

The amount of bets that the casino returns to players in the course of time.

Pay Table

A pay table is a chart on the slot machine that lists the symbols and how different arrangements of these symbols pay. Payout is often significantly higher for a maximum bet on the jackpot. The pay table also shows available bonuses, if any.

Progressive Jackpot

A slot machine or group of slots with a steadily rising top prize. A jackpot meter indicates the current prize. When somebody wins, the jackpot meter resets itself to the minimum jackpot prize. A progressive jackpot prize can be limited to one slot only, a group of slots, or to many slots located in various casinos.

Random Number Generator

A computer chip that randomly chooses a series of numbers/symbols at a rate of a thousand or more per second. Whichever it chooses the moment a player makes a spin becomes the result of that spin. RNG results are totally unpredictable.

Reel

The spinning cylinder in a slot machine is called a "reel." But only the original, mechanical one-armed bandits had actual reels. Today's computerized slots only simulate reels. When you see a number followed by the word reel, it refers to the number of reels on a slot machine. 3-reel means the slot has 3 reels; 5-reel has 5 slots etc.

Slot Card

When you insert a slot card into a slot machine, it will keep track of your playing time for the casino. This is what comps are based on. Slot cards can be obtained by joining a slot club.

Tight

A miserly slot machine that pays out small. The opposite of a loose slot machine. Lower denomination machines tend to be tighter than higher ones. Progressive jackpot slots are also tighter than normal.