When certain symbols appear in a winning combination a special feature of the particular game theme is activated, which is a Bonus. In the 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. A mechanical device, such as a spinning wheel is used by some bonuses. It works in conjunction with the bonus to display the amount won.
There is a light on top of the slot machine called Candle. When change is needed, hand pay is requested or a potential problem with the machine appears it flashes.
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. A coin diverter is used to redirect excess coins into a drop bucket, or drop box when a certain preset coin capacity is reached.
Credit meter is a visual display of the amount of money or credits on the machine.
There is a container located in a slot machine's base that is used to divert excess coins. Typically, a drop bucket is used for low denomination slot machines. And a drop box is used for high denomination slot machines. The difference between a drop box and a drop bucket is a hinged lid with one or more locks. There is a scheduled basis on which the contents of drop buckets and drop boxes are collected and counted.
EGM is used as a short-hand for Electronic Gaming Machine.
The term Hand pay means a payout made by a slot attendant or cage, rather than the slot machine. When the amount of the payout exceeds the maximum amount that was preset by the slot machine's operator a hand pay occurs. Usually, 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 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.
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.
Optimal play is a payback percentage based on a gambler using the optimal strategy in a skill-based slot machine game.
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.
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. If the coin hopper has been depleted as a result of making earlier payouts to players the short pay happens. An attendant will come and re-fill the machine or the remaining amount will be paid as a hand pay.
Theoretical Hold Worksheet is 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 reel strip settings, number of coins that may be played, the payout schedule, the number of reels and other information is indicated in the worksheet.
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.

There exist at least two types of slot players.
Persistent player.
The players of this type believe that very soon there will be a period when the machine begins to pay. Any second now the slot machine will roll over and all the coins will be flying out and you will be rich.
The player has either seen a person playing a slots game for a while with no payouts or alternatively they have been depositing funds into a slots game and haven’t yet seen any payouts. They believe that at least any payout is due to happen. The rush is that if they leave after depositing so much money in the machine it will erupt and the payouts will be often and large. Maybe it can really work if you have already spent thousands of dollars and have got nothing back. The machine can’t but paying.
Many years ago players have their own way of determining whether the machine has not paid out for a long period of time. They touch the coins to see whether they were cold or hot. If the coins were hot they believed that the machine had not paid for a long period of time. The heat of the machines lights, etc would eventually heat the coins.
The second type of slot players is a chaser.
The player thinks that the machine he is going to play is not a machine that never pays. The player have won and being reinforced by the win gains trust in the slot machine. A sense of comfort exists between the slot machine and the player.

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.
In fact all slot machines are the same. They only differ in some peculiarities: odds, payouts, payout percentage and symbols. There are so many variatisn of slot machines that everybody can find something to his liking.
Two most distinct types of slot machines are single line and multiline slots. In single line slots, the machine has just one line of reels, usually with 4 or 5 wheels, while in multiline there are a number of reel 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. Sometimes you don't win anything at all, and sometimes multiple combinations award you with relatively big winning money. There are machines with paylines; that is, vertical lines along which a winning combination must occur, but some don’t have them, as the winning combination may come in diagonals, zigzags, strange curves and in other ways and fashions.
Jackpot is also a feature peculiar not for all slots. 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. Indeed, as well as with all small wager games, there are top bets - they're known as table limits in table games. 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.

It is true that slots are designed to be honest and not to deceive a player. 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. Modern slots are much different. Now the integral part of any slot machine is a chip, which 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. There is a legal rate according to which the machine has to pay out. Of course it can pay lower, which happen very seldom.
Because slot machines don’t pay off with every spin, it’s difficult for customers to tell whether a slot machine’s chip has been programmed to pay off less often than is legally required. 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. Once inspectors approve a brand of machine, the manufacturers can make changes to individual machines as long as the changes fall within the legal bounds. 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. Similarly, Universal Distributing Company was caught programming machines to show a “near miss” of a jackpot. The effect was two-fold: the machine didn’t pay off, and customers continued to play the machine, thinking that they were very close to a big jackpot. If you think you’re playing a machine that is not honest, you can complain. Inspectors will respond by pulling the slot machine’s chip and seeing if it is an approved chip. Manufacturers that cheat are fined or they can lose their license.

There are many types of slot machine configurations but all work according to the same principles - put the money in the slots and pull the handle! According to the main slot classification there are two types of slots. They are straight slots and progressive slots. If you play slots then you are paid in accordance with the payout schedule, which is always shown on the slot. Straight slots in their turn can be divided into multiplier, bonus multiplier, multiple payline and buy-a-pay slots. The main feature of multiplier slots is that the payout for a winning combination depends on the number of coins bet. Bonus multiplier slots are characterized by a bonus round, which is activated if making maximum bets. When playing multiple payline slots remember that the number of coins being bet determines the winning amount. The Buy-a-Pay slots are profitable only if you place maximum bets. The jackpot for Progressive slots is never the same as it grows higher with every coin put in the machine. The jackpot total is posted above the machine and can grow to enormous sums of money.