A slit or narrow opening, especially one for receiving something such as coins or letters. Also: a position, as in a hockey game, where the defenseman takes a shot from ‘the high slot’ (see also high slot).
A mechanical or electronic machine with reels that spin and rearrange symbols to create winning combinations according to the paytable. Players may insert cash or, in ticket-in, ticket-out machines, paper tickets with barcodes into a slot to activate the machine and start playing. The winnings are then dispensed according to the machine’s payout schedule. A slot machine can have a single pay line or multiple, with each additional line increasing the payout potential. Some video slots have up to 1024 different possible pay lines.
Psychology: In a casino setting, slot machines are prone to cause gambling addiction. Researchers have found that people who play video slots reach a debilitating level of involvement with gambling three times as quickly as those who don’t play them.
In hockey: The area in front of the goal between the face-off circles on an ice surface where a player can take a slap shot. A well-placed one-timer from the high slot is among the most difficult shots to stop in a game of ice hockey.
A stage in software development where the artist produces initial sketches and wireframes to display how the slot game will look statically. This is an important phase to build a prototype or minimum viable product.