You’ve checked in, made your way through security, got to the gate, queued up to board and settled into your seat. Then the captain comes on and says, “We’re waiting for a slot.” What the hell does that mean?
A slot is a narrow opening in a machine or container. It’s also a piece of machinery that can be used to hold coins, and it can be found in brick-and-mortar casinos, slot parlors and online slots.
Slot is also the name of a type of computer processor. In most long instruction word (VLIW) computers, a slot contains the operation issue and data path hardware surrounding a set of one or more execution units. These units execute instructions in sequence until they reach the next slot.
It never ceases to amaze us that players will plunge straight into an online slot without checking out its pay table. The pay table will display all the regular symbols in that particular slot, along with their payouts and any bonus features that are included in the game. The pay table is usually displayed by clicking an icon close to the base of the screen and can tell you everything you need to know about the game. It will even show you a picture of each symbol and how much you can win for landing them on the paylines.