When certain symbols appear in a winning combination a special feature of the particular game theme is activated, which is a Bonus. Several items on the screen are presented to the player to choose. A number of credits is revealed and awarded to the player when items are chosen. A mechanical device, such as a spinning wheel is used by some bonuses. It is used in conjunction with the bonus for displaying the amount won.
Candle is a light on top of the slot machine. It alerts the operator that change is needed, hand pay is requested or there is a potential problem with the machine.
Carousel refers to a grouping of slot machines, usually in a circle or oval formation.
A container where the coins that are immediately available for payouts are held is coin hopper. When a player collects credits this mechanical device rotates coins into the coin tray. 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.
Drop bucket or Drop box is a container located in a slot machine's base where excess coins are diverted from the hopper. It is generally used in low denomination slot machines. High denomination slot machines use a drop box. A drop box contains a hinged lid with one or more locks whereas a drop bucket doesn't contain a lid. There is a scheduled basis on which the contents of drop buckets and drop boxes are collected and counted.
EGM is a short-hand for Electronic Gaming Machine.
To denote a payout made by a slot attendant or cage, rather than the slot machine the term Hand pay is used. When the amount of the payout exceeds the maximum amount that was preset by the slot machine's operator a hand pay occurs. At the level where the operator must begin to deduct taxes the maximum amount is set. A short pay can also result in a and pay.
Hopper fill slip is a document used to record the replenishments of the coin in the coin hopper after it becomes depleted as a result of making payouts to players. There is the slip that indicates 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.
A stool is included into Low Level or Slant Top slot machines, so you can sit and play. You can only stand playing Stand Up or Upright slot machines.
A payback percentage based on a gambler using the optimal strategy in a skill-based slot machine game is called Optimal play.
Payline is a straight or zigzagged line that crosses through one symbol on each reel, along which a winning combination is evaluated. Up to nine pay lines are contained by classic spinning reel machines and video slot machines contain up to a hundred ones.
While the meters count up to the amount that has been won the process of dramatizing a win by playing sounds happens which is called Rollup.
The term Short pay is used to mean 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. Then the remaining amount is paid as a hand pay or the machine is re-filled by an attendant.
The term Theoretical Hold Worksheet. Is used to denote a document provided by the manufacturer for all slot machines. 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.

Here is the list of the most amusing myths concerning slots.
You can spot a winning slot machine.
The only way you'll spot a winning slot machine is when the bells are ringing and the money is dropping. RNG is the main element of every slot machine and one never knows what combination it will form.
Casinos place loose slots near the cashier, aisle ways, etc.
If this were true, it would be the only machines anyone would play. A casino mixes slots all over the casino floor. No one with any experience at playing slots would make a statement like this.
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.
In order to change how a slot willpay out is by changing the computer chip. No casino can just flip a switch.
A slot machine that has not been paying is due to hit.
It is not so. With every game the chances of winning are the same.
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.

Slot machines have a vivid and diverse history. They came through a number of changes and improvement. But the objective and the principle of the game always remain the same. The player inserts coins in the machine and then wins or loses according to the outcome of the game.
Basically, slot machines are all the same. They have different odds (and of course payouts), different payoffs, different symbols and different exterior arrangement, but there's little difference under the hood. There are so many variatisn of slot machines that everybody can find something to his liking.
The main difference is the number of lines. Slot machines can be either single line or multilane. As it can be understood from its name single line slots have only one line with 4 or 5 wheels. But multi line slots can have up to 25 lines. Multi line slots are a little bit more complicated because winning combinations may play out across a number of lines; when you win, the machine will draw you how the symbols combine together and calculate the win automatically. It can happen that you win nothing during the game or that you win big in a short while. Paylines can be different. They can be vertical, diagonal, zigzags and what not.
Another interesting variation of the slot machine is a jackpot. If the slot machine has a jackpot it means that a certain amount of each additional bet is added to the jackpot. So the jackpot becomes bigger and bigger with every bet. Jackpots can reach several hundreds of thousands dollars. There is only one winning combination that can bring the gambler the jackpot.
Slot machines are historically played with coins. The new invention is a slot machine online, which doesn’t differ greatly from regular slot machines. Like regular slots they have betting limits, which can be even lower than in real casinos. Unlike the table games, slot machines don't involve any decision on the player's part and so aren't threatened by game management systems because of their fixed odds; the bet limits are more of a traditional thing than anything else.
Software slot machines (as well as the digital ones) are equipped with a random number generator which is what actually plays the game. This methodic allows very fair and precise balancing without actually hurting neither the players' interests nor the casino revenue.

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.
When the first slots only appeared cheating was impossible because they worked mechanically, with independent wheels spinning and then stopping 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. 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. Before the machines are installed in casinos they are examined by inspectors. But you must understand that inspectors can’t examine every machine. They examine the brands. If inspectors approve the brand, they can produce machines, and change them. But these changes must cover legal requirements. Some dishonest manufactures use the right to produce machines, but use a different chip, which is programmed to pay less or not so often.
In one of the casinos the chip was programmed in such a way that royal flushes would never come out. Or a chip that shows near misses of a jackpot. One the one hand the machine would never have a jackpot and the player would keep on playing. If you think you’re playing a machine that is not honest, you can 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.

Have you ever met a man who has 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.
Tommy is now 53 and he can be said to have spent all his life inventing different devices to cheat slot machines. His first device was a kind of a top-button joint. By the way, for this device he was sent to prison. After the release Tommy began to invent new kinds of devices for cheating slot machines. For example, he invented a tool called a slider made from guitar wire that he used to insert into the machine and trip a switch, which released coins from 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. He fooled a manufacturer into believing he was a customer and showing him the inside of a slot machine. It was enough for Tommy. 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. Now he could afford the most expensive cars and several houses.
But good thing will end one day. While using his devise Tommy was caught by the police. 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.