The slot is a narrow opening, especially one for receiving something, such as a coin in a machine. A slot is also a place or position, such as an appointment or berth on a ship. You can also use the word to describe a position in a series or sequence, as in “I was slotted into third place.” From Middle English slit, from Old English sloot, from Proto-Germanic *slutila (source also of Dutch sleutel, German Schliessen “to bolt, lock, close”).
The slots on a machine are the positions where the reels can stop. The symbols that land in those slots determine whether it was a winning spin or not. The amount you win depends on how many of those symbols were on your payline and what kind of symbol they were. You can find this information in the slot’s pay table, which lists all the possible combinations of symbols and their associated payout amounts.
If slot machines never paid out, players would quit and the casinos would go bankrupt. Most jurisdictions require that slot machines pay out at least 85 percent of the money they receive, so it’s important to understand that even if you don’t hit a big jackpot, you can still win by getting enough small wins to keep your bankroll from depleting. This is called bankroll cycling and it can help you stay in the game longer and potentially earn more complimentary spins. If you’re not achieving this goal, it might be time to change your slot strategy.