A special feature of the particular game theme, which is activated when certain symbols appear in a winning combination is called Bonus. The player can choose from several items shown on a screen. After choosing items a number of credits is revealed and awarded. Some bonuses use a mechanical device, such as a spinning wheel. The amount won is displayed with the help of it in conjunction with the bonus.
A light on top of the slot machine is Candle. It alerts the operator that change is needed, hand pay is requested or there is a potential problem with the machine.
A grouping of slot machines, usually in a circle or oval formation are called Carousel.
There is a container where the coins that are immediately available for payouts are held called Coin hopper. It rotates coins into the coin tray when a player collects credits. When a certain preset coin capacity is reached, a coin diverter automatically redirects excess coins into a drop bucket, or drop box.
A visual display of the amount of money or credits on the machine is called Credit meter.
A a container located in a slot machine's base where excess coins are diverted from the hopper is Drop bucket or Drop box. Typically low denomination slot machines use a drop bucket. As for high denomination slot machines they use a drop box. A drop bucket doesn't contain a lid while a drop box contains a hinged lid with one or more locks. There exists a scheduled basis for collecting and counting the contents of drop buckets and drop boxes.
Electronic Gaming Machine is called EGM.
The term Hand pay means a payout made by a slot attendant or cage, rather than the slot machine. A hand pay occurs when the amount of the payout exceeds the maximum amount that was preset by the slot machine's operator. The maximum amount is set at the level where the operator must begin to deduct taxes. A hand pay can also be a result of a short pay.
Hopper fill is a document used for recording the replenishments of the coin in the coin hopper after it becomes depleted as a result of making payouts to players. The slip exists to indicate the amount of coins placed into the hoppers, the signatures of the employees involved in the transaction, the slot machine number and the location and the date.
Low Level or Slant Top slot machines include a stool so you can sit and play. You will have to stand while playing Stand Up or Upright slot machines.
The term Optimal play is used to denote a payback percentage based on a gambler using the optimal strategy in a skill-based slot machine game.
A straight or zigzagged line that crosses through one symbol on each reel, along which a winning combination is evaluated is called Payline. Classic spinning reel machines usually have up to nine pay lines, while video slot machines may have as many as one hundred.
Rollup is the process of dramatizing a win by playing sounds while the meters count up to the amount that has been won.
A partial payout made by a slot machine, which is less than the amount due to the player is called Short pay. This occurs if the coin hopper has been depleted as a result of making earlier payouts to players. The remaining amount due to the player is either paid as a hand pay or an attendant will come and re-fill the machine.
The term Theoretical Hold Worksheet. Is used to denote a document provided by the manufacturer for all slot machines. Basing on adequate levels of coin-in it indicates the theoretical percentage that the slot machine should hold. The worksheet also indicates the reel strip settings, number of coins that may be played, the payout schedule, the number of reels and other information.
The dollar amount of coins or tokens removed from a slot machine's drop bucket or drop box and counted by the casino's hard count team through the use of a weigh scale is called Weight count.

Here is the list of the most amusing myths concerning slots.
You can spot a winning slot machine.
The only way one can say that theslot machine is a winning one is only to catch this moment, when the machine pays out. Slot machines use random numbergenerator and that's exactly that. Random.
Casinos place loose slots near the cashier, aisle ways, etc.
In reality it is not to casino’s advantage to place loose slots at one and the same place, because in this case gamblers would play only these slots. The slots are mixed and nobody can say for sure whether this slot is a loose one or not.
Count the number of symbols on the reels to determine your odds.
It is a rude mistake. RNG decides when the machine will stop and there are thousands of combination available on a 3 reel slot machine.
Casinos can tighten or loosen slot machines from the back office.
It is not as simple as that. The casino can’t just change the chip of the slot machine. It is illegal and it has to be permitted by the commission.
A slot machine that has not been paying is due to hit.
Absolutely false. The RNG assures this. You have an equal chance of winning on a losing machine as you do on a machine that just paid out the jackpot.
Pulling the slot machine handle produces more wins than pressing the spin button and visa versa.
Again false. It makes no difference, as the computer only uses these as mechanisms to start the game. Only the computer determines a win or a loss and it has already determined if you are a winner or loser even before the first reel stops spinning.
Playing with hot coins improves your chances.
It is false. Nothing can affect the outcome, the machine doesn’t care and doesn’t know whether your coins are cold or hot.
Casinos set slot machines to payback more on the weekends.
Wrong again. Your odds of winning are the same no matter if it's 4:00pm Monday, 8:00pm Saturday or 3:00am Wednesday. Casinos can not and do not do this.

Slots Rules: Understanding the rules of the game is always important, no matter what game you are playing. Slots are the easiest casino games. The rules are very simple. The player has to insert coins in the slot machine, then push the button or pull the handle and wait for the combination of symbols. If the bells ring and lights flash, open up your pocketbook because you are in the money! Enjoy, but never gamble with more money than you can afford to lose.
Rules for playing Slots
The rules for slots are one of the simplest set of rules for any casino game. In fact it is so because there are no rules at all. All the player has to do is drop coins in the slot and pull the handle or push the spin button. The mission of the game is to match preselected symbols on the pay line, (or paylines, depending on the machine being played, there can be up to 5 pay lines on some machines), to earn credits. Slot machines can be found in many denominations from 5 cents to being the most popular, although there are also machines that accept 0 tokens.
Especially beginners like slots. They don't have to worry about rules and regulations, or being laughed at by the other players for making a bad play, all they have to do is try to hit the jackpot by matching the highest paying symbols on one of the pay lines.

You can be sure that slot machines are designed to be honest. But there are some manufactures that design the slots in such a way that they can deceive players.
The very first slot machines worked according to the following principle: the wheels spun and then each of them stopped randomly. Today’s slot machines are light years away from those lumbering machines of old. These machines contain computer chips that are programmed to select numbers randomly. The numbers the computer selects correspond to the symbols that appear on the slot machine’s screen. The computer code that generates the random numbers is responsible for whether the machine is “loose” or “tight,” so gaming inspectors look at the machine’s code to make sure that a slot machine doesn’t cheat. The machine has to pay out either to the legal rate or better. Of course the latter happens very seldom.
It is next to impossible to say whether the chip is programmed not in a right way because the machine is not supposed to pay out with every spin. Inspectors look at brands of machines and their chips before they are installed in casinos, but they can’t inspect each machine. If inspectors approve the brand, they can produce machines, and change them. But these changes must cover legal requirements. Manufacturers can change chips to make a machine pay less as long as the inspectors have approved that particular chip.
In one of the casinos the chip was programmed in such a way that royal flushes would never come out. Similarly, Universal Distributing Company was caught programming machines to show a “near miss” of a jackpot. The player would never hit a jackpot but keep on playing maximum bets. If you think that you have come across such a machine you have a right to complain. Be sure that inspectors will examine this very machine and the casino itself to make sure everything is ok. Manufacturers that cheat are fined or they can lose their license.

There is a man who managed to cheat slots.
Slot machines pay on a random basis, but what if you could improve the payout a little? Would you do it? Tommy Glenn Carmichael would and did.
Carmichael, now 53, had a long history of inventing devices to cheat slot machines. He was caught with one, called a top-bottom joint, and sentenced to prison. Then he was released, but continued to work at inventing devices for cheating a slot. His next invention was a slider, a guitar wire. He inserted it into the machine, which released coins form the hopper.
Later the slot machines were not any longer mechanical, they were computerized and as a result there appeared a need for a new device. In some way he managed to fool the manufacture who showed him the inner construction of a slot machine. It was enough to learn everything that he wanted. His new inventions was a light want that blinded the sensor of the slot machine and as a result got winnings. Other gamblers liked his invention and he had a lot of customers, which allowed him to earn up to ,000 a day. He drove expensive cars, took cruises, and bought two houses.
But as known good things can’t last forever. While using his devise Tommy was caught by the police. He was fined, but soon came back to the same business. By this time, authorities had tapped his phone and recorded conversations with other cheats who used his device. Three years’ probation and expropriation was the punishment. He has been banned from entering any casino.