Slots Terms: Full Slot Machine Lingo & Glossary

With unique terminology ranging from basic gameplay to advanced strategies, this comprehensive slots glossary covers 43 essential slots terms you need to know:

1. Active Payline – A payline that a player has placed a wager on for a potential payout if a winning combination lands on that line.
2. Autoplay – A slots feature that allows the player to set the game to automatically spin for a pre-determined number of rounds.
3. Bankroll – The amount of money a slots player has allocated specifically for slots betting. Proper bankroll management is vital for responsible slots play.
4. Bet Max – When a player wagers the maximum number of credits/coins allowed per spin. This activates all possible paylines and payouts. Many new players ask the question if “Bet Max” is actually worth it.
5. Bonus Game – Separate from the main slots game, bonus games offer players chances at additional prizes through secondary activities like picking hidden items or free spins.
6. Bonus Symbol/Scatter – Special symbols that activate in-game bonus features like free spins rather than pay out for symbol combinations on paylines.
7. Branded Slots – Slots featuring licensed themes from popular movies, TV shows, musicians, or brands to attract fans.
8. Cascading Reels – Instead of traditional spinning reels, cascading slots drop symbols from above to form wins, exploding to make room for new symbols.
9. Classic Slots – Straightforward 3-reel slots much like the original slot machines with basic symbols and features, usually a single payline.
10. Comps – Complimentary gifts, meals, hotel stays, and other perks casinos offer loyal players to incentivize slots play.
11. Currency – The money slots players use to place bets and receive payouts. Most online slots casinos allow wagering and display wins in various global currencies.
12. Cycle – The complete set of symbol outcomes programmed into a game that the random number generator draws from before repeating. Longer cycles increase variance.
13. Daily Free Spins – Casinos often offer slots players a set number of free spins playable on selected titles that refresh after 24 hours.
14. Denomination – The set value per credit on slot games, with options like $0.01, $0.05, and $1.00 and higher. This amount is multiplied by credits bet per line.
15. Expanding Wild – Special wild symbols that can expand to cover entire reels, increasing payout potential.
16. Fixed Jackpot – Jackpots with static top prize amounts that do not increase over time from a portion of players’ bets.
17. Free Spins – Spins playable without betting credits, activated by in-game features and used on the triggering slots. Winnings are usually withdrawable.
18. Gamble Feature – A risk-based feature allowing players to wager slots winnings on a simple game like high/low card draws or coin flips to try doubling their prize.
19. Hit Frequency – Describes how often a slot pays out compared to bet, usually expressed as a percentage. Higher hit frequency indicates more frequent payouts.
20. Hold – The calculated house edge for slots – typically 5-10% – dictating how much wagered money is kept as profit over time.
21. In-Game Bonuses – Additional bonus components integrated directly into the slots game. Examples include free spins, special wilds, instant wins, and secondary mini bonus rounds.
22. Instant Win – Random cash prizes or jackpots randomly triggered and instantly awarded to the player on any spin.
23. Jackpot Game – Slots that are connected among casinos for a chance at shared progressive jackpot prizes that increase based on cumulative bets placed.
24. Lines – The number of available paylines on a slots game that players can bet on as potential avenues for wins.
25. Loose Slot – Refers to a slot perceived to pay out more frequently and generously than average or with a higher return to player (RTP) percentage. Based more on anecdotes than published payout data.
26. Multipliers – Features that award multipliers increasing win amounts for special symbol combinations or wins during features like free spins.
27. Multi-Way Slots – Instead of fixed paylines, winning combos count left-to-right and right-to-left increasing the number of potential line wins.
28. Nudge Feature – Allows players to nudge/shift reels up or down to finish incomplete winning symbol combinations on a spin.
29. Payline – A defined line across slot reels where matching symbols result in a payout according to the game’s defined win combinations.
30. Pay Table – Lists all standard cash prize payouts for symbol combos, multipliers for bet sizes, special symbol values, jackpots, and bonus round details.
31. Progressive Jackpot – Top prize amounts that accumulate over time with a small portion of every player’s bet until won, which can reach multi-million dollar totals.
32. Re-Spins – Extra free spins added during a slots bonus round or feature, allowing more chances to increase total winnings.
33. Reels – Rotating wheels that spin during play with ringed symbols players aim to match across paylines to win prizes. Typical set-ups include 3, 5, and 7-reels.
34. Return to Player (RTP) – The theoretical percentage of wagered money a slot machine is designed to pay back to players over time. It indicates profitability and averages 92-97%.
35. RNG (Random Number Generator) – Software algorithms generating sequences of random outcomes used to determine fair, unbiased slots results on each spin. Regularly tested for fairness by e-gaming authorities.
36. Scatter Pays – Unlike payline wins requiring left-to-right combos, scatters pay if 3+ land anywhere visible. They also commonly trigger slots bonuses.
37. Slot Variance – Volatility that determines the size and frequency of slots payouts. Low variance slots offer smaller but more regular wins. High volatility provides bigger prizes but less often after longer dry spells.
38. Strategy – Methods players employ to maximize wins like optimizing bet sizes for bonuses, maximizing free spin features for re-triggers, or judiciously utilizing gamble options to boost payouts.
39. Symbols – Colorful icons and graphics on slot reels that players match across paylines to win prizes. Types include high-value themed images, standard card values, wilds, scatters, and more.
40. Weighting – How probabilities are adjusted so some symbols or outcomes land more or less often than others. For example, jackpot symbols are weighted to rarely occur.
41. Wild Symbol – Special symbols that substitute for other icons to help complete winning payline combinations for bigger prizes.
42. Win Both Ways – When slots award line wins for matching symbols left-to-right and right-to-left along paylines. Effectively doubles available ways to win on each spin.
43. X of a Kind – Refers to winning instances where more than the required minimum number of a symbol land on an active payline. For example, if 5 matching symbols is typically needed, “7 of a kind” would indicate a highly profitable spin.