Coin Size: The monetary value of the coin(s) bet for each spin.
Coins per spin: The number of coins put in the slot machine each spin.
Fill: The act of the casino employee (slot attendant) refilling an empty slot machine with coins.
Hit Rate: The rate at which you win (hit) on a spin in comparison to non-winning spins.
Hold: The house profit. In other words, the amount of coins that the slot machine “holds” does not payout. This number is typically about 3% to15%.
Hopper: The area in the slot machine where the coins are stored (held). When or if a hopper is overflowed by coins (completely full) the excess coins fall into a bucket which is located under the hopper. These coins make up the casinos profit.
Max Bet: The absolute maximum numbers of coins that you are able to play on a particular machine each time you spin.
Pay Cycle: The amount of time it takes for a particular machine to pay out. Some believe that in order to meet the programmed payout percentage each machine goes through a cycle where after receiving a certain number of coins, the machine must payout.
Pay Line: The line or lines (sometimes 3, 5 or even 10) on the slot machines screen where winning symbols must line up in order for the player to win an amount of coins.
Progressive Jackpot: A type of slot game where the top prize amount grows in accordance to the amount of coins inserted by players in a network of machines.
Reels: The individual wheels that the symbols are printed on. The typical slot machine has three reels but some machines may contain 2, 4 or more reels. Clearly, the higher amount of reels on a machine, the harder it is to achieve a winning combination.
Symbols: The picture or icons that are printed on the reels, these symbols are the character of the slot machine and can be any symbol the manufacturer chooses. Common symbols are 7’s or fruit (cherries, oranges, etc.).
Take cycle: Opposite of the pay cycle, the take cycle is the amount of time that the slot machine takes or keeps any inserted coins.
Tilt: When the slot machine stops taking or paying out coins, this happens when the machine is out of money or if a coin is jamming the machine. A light will come on if the machine is on tilt and an attendant will come and solve the problem. The machine is programmed to remember any coins owed to the player so if your machine runs out of coins, you will definitely receive the coins owed to you.
Top Prize: The jackpot or the max number of coins you could possibly win on a machine. In most cases it is necessary to insert the maximum number of coins per spin to be eligible to win the top prize.
Winning Combinations: The amount of possible winning combinations that are displayed on the pay reels Wild Symbol: A symbol that will take the face of any symbol that is needed in order to make a winning combination is known as a free symbol.
