A slot is a narrow opening, especially one that is used to receive something, as a coin or letter. A slot can also refer to an assignment, job opening or position. Sports: A place in front of the goal between the face-off circles on an ice hockey rink.
A computer memory expansion port, usually located on the motherboard. The term is a portmanteau of “I/O” and “slot.” It is also the name of the slot on a video card, which accepts an I/O board.
The slot of a game, or a game machine, is an area on the screen where winning symbols appear. In electromechanical machines, this area was surrounded by a metal cage with a bell that would ring when the machine was tilted or otherwise tampered with. Modern slot machines have no such mechanical device, but they can still be tilted in ways that cause them to malfunction and may trigger an alarm.
When deciding which slot to play, a player should consider the slot’s payout odds and rules. For example, in the sample machine shown below, each spin has 216 possible outcomes, with each outcome having different probabilities. Matches that result in less than or equal to the player’s stake have approximately a 30% to 40% probability of occurring. Matches that give the player more than their stake have lower probabilities, depending on the slot’s maximum payout amounts and bonus features. These probabilities are determined by the random number generator (RNG) of the slot.