A narrow depression, notch, groove, or opening, especially one for receiving something, as a keyway in a piece of machinery or a slit for a coin in a vending machine. Also used as a period of time in a schedule or sequence: A television program received a new slot in the broadcasting calendar. A position in a group, series, or sequence: He was given the slot after the news anchor.
In a computer, a location in memory that holds data that has been read and written to by the central processing unit. Also called a cache.
A type of game in which reels spin and symbols line up to form winning combinations, typically awarding credits based on the pay table displayed on the machine’s screen. These symbols vary according to the theme of the slot and can be anything from fruit to stylized lucky sevens. Many slots are themed to a specific genre, time period, or location and can be found at brick-and-mortar casinos as well as online.
The game of slot has been around for centuries, but the modern machines we know and love today were first introduced in the late 1800s. They’re now the most popular gambling machines in the world. In fact, the United States is home to more slot machines than any other country.
When you play a slot machine, you’re usually asked to insert cash or, in the case of “ticket-in, ticket-out” machines, a paper ticket with a barcode. Then, by pressing a lever or button (either physical or on a touchscreen), you activate the reels. Each symbol on a reel has a different payout value, ranging from a few cents to a substantial jackpot.
If the reels stop in a winning combination, they’re said to have “hit”. When the reels wiggle, some people think they’re about to hit and try to time their next spin accordingly. However, the fact is that every single spin is independent of any previous result, so there’s no way to predict when a slot will pay out.
In programming, a slot is a dynamic placeholder that either waits for content to be added (a passive slot) or calls out for it (an active slot). A slot’s contents are dictated by a scenario using an Add Items to Slot action or by a targeter that references a repository item with a slot filled in. Slots are then rendered by a renderer, which specifies how and where the content is presented.