You’ve checked in, cleared security, made it to the gate, queued to get on board, struggled with the overhead lockers and settled back into your seat — only to hear the captain say, “We’re waiting for a slot.” What is this and why can’t we take off?
In a casino, a slot refers to a vertically placed reel that has a number of symbols that are triggered when the player pulls a lever or presses a button. Slots may also offer a variety of bonus features, such as wild symbols that can substitute for other symbols and multiply a winning combination. They can also have a jackpot level that increases as players continue to play.
Originally, the Sittman and Pitt invention had only nine symbols and allowed for a maximum of about 10,000 combinations, but Charles Fey improved on it with a machine that had three reels, and offered poker, diamonds, spades, horseshoes and liberty bells. The latter was particularly important, because if three aligned liberty bells appeared on a payline, the player would receive a large payout.
Some people believe that certain slots are “hotter” or pay out more frequently than others, but this is a myth as all payouts depend on the random number generator (RNG) and the game’s inner computer. Others believe that a slot that hasn’t paid out in a while is due to pay out, but again this is untrue, as all slots are random.