If you’ve ever waited on an airplane for a flight to take off, you know what it means to be waiting for the slot. You’ve checked in, cleared security, and found your gate, but you still can’t get on board. You hear the captain say, “We’re waiting for the slot.” But what is a slot? And why is it so important to an air traveler?
The slot, also known as a ‘taste’, is a small amount of money paid out by a machine over time. It is meant to keep the player seated and betting. It is only rarely that a machine will fail to pay out even this minimum over several pulls. A small taste is often enough to entice a player back to the same machine over and over. This is why it’s important to test a machine before spending any real money on it. A quick experiment with a few dollars will tell you whether the machine is loose or not.
A line or payline is the exact pattern that symbols must fall on in order to pay out in a slot machine. Usually this is a straight line running from left to right, but some machines will have multiple lines or zig-zagged patterns. The more paylines a slot machine has, the more complicated this grid pattern will be.
A slot receiver is a wide receiver that lines up closer to the line of scrimmage than other wide receivers. They catch a lot of short passes behind the line of scrimmage and need to have excellent chemistry with the quarterback. They also need to have good route running skills and precise timing to make the plays they’re supposed to make.