Slot Machine Terminology

Published : 10th of July 2006

Terminology

Here we cover all of the terms which you will find throughout All Online Slots. Well worth reading if you are having trouble understanding the slot reviews or want to learn more about slot machines in general. All of these terms are used when discussing slot machine both online and at land-based casinos. On with the terminology of slots ...

Bet Max

  • Press this button to bet the maximum amount of coins

Bonus Feature

  • Any additional way to win in addition to the reel pays

Bonus Video Slot

  • A video slot machine with a bonus feature. These features can be anything but the most common are free spins, wheel or fortune style and pick a box.

Buy A Pay

  • A slot machine that has several pay tables. Each additional coin you play activates additional pay tables. Playing max bet is important.

Buttons

  • Found on the front of all slots. Press them to interact with the machine

Coins

  • Describes the units of currency that slots can be played in.

Coin Size

  • The actual value of each of the coins

Double Up

  • Found on many Australian style slots. Offers the chance to double or quadruple your win by choosing red or black or one of the four card suits

Expanding Wilds

  • This descibes wild symbols that expand when they are part of winning combination.

Fruit Machine

  • The UK version of slots which commonly have features such as the option to hold the reels, nudge and bonus games

Gamble

  • Another way of descibing the Double Up option

Hi / Low

  • Found on UK fruit machines, offers the chance to double you r win by choosing whether the next number will be higher or lower.

Hit Rate / Frequency

  • A term used to describe how often a slot machine pays a winning combination. Can also be used to describe how often a bonus game hits.

Hopper

  • The area inside a land-based slot machine where the coins are stored.

Jackpot

  • The highest possible win on a slot machine

Linked Jackpot

  • A system where multiple casinos offer the same game with a shared jackpot. Most often seen on progressives. A good example is IGT's Megabucks

Maximum Bet

  • The highest possible bet in coins for a game. For example if a five reel, five line slot lets you bet five coins per line the max bet is 25 coins (5 x 5 = 25)

Multi-Line

  • Any slot machine that has more than one line on which you can line up wins.

Pay Line

  • The line that you need to line up the symbols on to win

Pay Out Percentage

  • The percentage of bets that a slot machine will pay back over the long term. This is set by the manufacturer and cannot be changed by the casinos.

Pay Table

  • The chart that shows you what all of the wins will pay.

Pokies

  • Australian slang for slot machines. Predominantly manufactured by Aristocrat

Progressive Jackpot

  • Any jackpot that grows as the game is played. A percentage of every bet is added to the top jackpot. Often come as linked jackpots.

Random Number Generator (RNG)

  • The computer chip inside the slot machine that determines where the reels stop. Found in all modern day slots from spinning to video reel games.

Reels

  • The section of the slot machine that spins when you press spin or pull the handle. Can be physical spinning reels or video reels displayed on a screen

Scatter Pay

  • A pay out most commonly found on video slots that wins without having to line up. Often activates the bonus feature or bonus game.

Slot Machine

  • Any gambling machine that uses reels

Stacked Wilds

  • This occurs when multiple wild symbols are positioned on top of each other on the reels. With stacked wilds on reels you can get a whole screen of wild symbols.

Symbols

  • The images that are displayed on the reels. Common examples include cherries, bars and sevens.

Video Slot

  • A slot machine that uses a computer screen and video reels instead of physical spinning reels. Commonly found with five reels and multiple lines.

Wild Symbol

  • A symbols that acts like joker and substitutes for other symbols.

Wild Multiplier

  • A wild symbols that not only substitutes for other symbols but also multiplies any win it a part of. An example of the is Double Diamonds from IGT.

Winning Combinations

  • The amount of way to win as displayed by the pay table.
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