A special feature of the particular game theme, which is activated when certain symbols appear in a winning combination is called Bonus. The player is presented with several items on a screen from which to choose. After choosing items a number of credits is revealed and awarded. Some bonuses use a mechanical device, such as a spinning wheel. It works in conjunction with the bonus to display the amount won.
A light on top of the slot machine is Candle. It flashes to alert the operator that change is needed, hand pay is requested or a potential problem with the machine.
A grouping of slot machines, usually in a circle or oval formation are called Carousel.
A container where the coins that are immediately available for payouts are held is coin hopper. It rotates coins into the coin tray when a player collects credits. There is a coin diverter used for redirecting excess coins into a drop bucket, or drop box when a certain preset coin capacity is reached.
A visual display of the amount of money or credits on the machine is called Credit meter.
There is a container located in a slot machine's base that is used to divert excess coins. A drop bucket can usually be found in low denomination slot machines. A drop box can be found in high denomination slot machines. A drop box contains a hinged lid with one or more locks whereas a drop bucket doesn't contain a lid. There exists a scheduled basis for collecting and counting the contents of drop buckets and drop boxes.
EMG is Electronic Gaming Machine.
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. Usually, the maximum amount is set at the level where the operator must begin to deduct taxes. A hand pay could also be necessary as a result of a short pay.
There is Hopper fill used to record the replenishments of the coin in the coin hopper after it becomes depleted as a result of making payouts to players. The are shown with the slip.
Low Level or Slant Top slot machines include a stool so you can sit and play. Stand Up or Upright slot machines are played while standing.
A payback percentage based on a gambler using the optimal strategy in a skill-based slot machine game is called Optimal play.
The term Payline means a straight or zigzagged line that crosses through one symbol on each reel, along which a winning combination is evaluated. There are up to nine pay lines in classic spinning reel machines while there can be one hundred pay lines in video slot machines.
The process of dramatizing a win by playing sounds while the meters count up to the amount that has been won is Rollup.
Short pay refers to a partial payout made by a slot machine, which is less than the amount due to the player. If the coin hopper has been depleted as a result of making earlier payouts to players the short pay happens. Then the remaining amount is paid as a hand pay or the machine is re-filled by an attendant.
The manufacturer for all slot machines provide them with a document called Theoretical Hold Worksheet. It indicates the theoretical percentage that the slot machine should hold based on adequate levels of coin-in. 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.
Weight count is an American term, referring to 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.

Know what you are playing.
You should know exactly how many coins you are supposed to insert into a machine. Before leaving a machine cash out your credits.
Slots shouldn't be a stress for you, just enjoy. You can increase your bets only when you are winning, and decrease your bets when you are losing.

Slots Rules: Understanding the rules of the game is always important, no matter what game you are playing. With slots the rules are very simple: Read the payout chart, insert coins, push button, (or pull handle), insert more coins. 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
Only slots have so simple rules. 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. Slots machines have different betting limits. They can be as low as 5 cents and as high as 0.
It is a popular game for beginners because it is just them against the machine. 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.

Slot machines are honest because state gaming commissions make sure they are. 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. There is a chip inside of every slot machine, this chip is programmed to select numbers randomly. The selected number determines the symbol which then comes out. 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. That is, inspectors make sure that the machine pays off at the legal rate or better.
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. The machines have to be examined before people begin to play them. Of course it is very difficult to examine every single machine, that’s why inspectors examine only brands. In the case of the approval of the brand the manufactures can produce the slot machines, even change them if it doesn’t go out legal bounds. Using their right to produce slot machines they insert different chips, which makes the machine pay less.
There is an example when there was inserted an illegal tip which doesn’t allow royal flushes. Similarly, Universal Distributing Company was caught programming machines to show a “near miss” of a jackpot. One the one hand the machine would never have a jackpot and the player would keep on playing. If you think that you have come across such a machine you have a right to complain. In the case if the complaint the inspectors will visir the casino and check whether the machines have a legal chip. Manufacturers that cheat are fined or they can lose their license.

Meet the man who beat the slots.
It is impossible to cheat the slot machine, but to improve the payout is possible. It was proved by a gambler whose name was Tommy Glenn Carmichael.
Tommy is now 53 and he can be said to have spent all his life inventing different devices to cheat slot machines. His first invention worked, but not for a long period of time as he was sentenced to prison for using it. Upon his release, he continued to work on the problem and to devise a better way to cheat the new slot machines. 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. From that experience, he learned what he needed to know to beat it. 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.
Eventually, all good things come to an end. Tommy was caught using his invention in one of the casinos. While charges from that incident were later dropped, he was caught under similar circumstances in Laughlin and later Atlantic City. By this time, authorities had tapped his phone and recorded conversations with other cheats who used his device. He served three years’ probation and lost both homes. He has been banned from entering any casino.