1. A narrow notch, groove or opening, such as a keyway in machinery or a slit for coins in a machine. 2. A position, time or place in a schedule or program: Visitors can book a slot a week or more in advance.
3. In computer science, a space in a system in which an operation is issued to one or more execution units. The term is also used to refer to the space in a very long instruction word (VLIW) computer in which a piece of code is executed.
4. In football, a player who primarily catches passes from the quarterback, especially when teams use multiple receivers. Generally speaking, slot receivers are shorter and quicker than traditional wide receivers.
5. In casinos, a slot machine that is paid out frequently and pays out higher amounts than other machines. These are typically grouped together and have a HELP or INFO button that will walk players through payouts, paylines and special features.
6. The amount of money that is returned to the player on average per spin in a slot machine. This percentage varies by machine and is listed in the help or pay table information.
If a slot has recently paid out a lot of money it is said to be hot. If it hasn’t paid out for a while, it is called cold. Some slots keep a small portion of each bet and add it to a progressive jackpot, which can sometimes reach millions of dollars. The odds of winning a jackpot are astronomically small, however, so getting greedy or betting more than you can afford to lose are the 2 biggest pitfalls of playing slot machines.