Popular slot machine lingo to make you a more knowledgeable player

Just recently, the UK Gambling Commission has published a new report urging operators to take greater care in helping new players understand how gambling works: from familiarizing them with specific slot machine terminology to acting more decisively when dealing with at-risk players.

Understanding slot gambling lingo is important, as it helps you to understand how the games work, what to expect, and ultimately, how to have more fun. Today, we take a closer look at the specific slot terms you may have already come across but never knew the meaning of.

Understanding the core terms of a slot machine

To help you understand slot machine lingo, there are two main categories that you need to focus on: the technical terms that explain how slots work and the gameplay terms. We will start you off with the technical terms first. Here is what you should know.

• RTP: The theoretical return to player is a popular metric that simply denotes how much you can expect to get back for every $1 wagered. If a slot has a theoretical return of 98%, this means that you can expect $0.98 for every $1 you place. However, this is an average metric over thousands of plays, meaning that the short-term results could potentially be higher or lower. Playing high RTP slots is usually what most players go for.
• RNG: The Random Number Generator is the specific software that is used to create the "randomness" in online slot games, but also for land-based machines. Computers cannot create "true" randomness, so they use a specific algorithm, the RNG, to create random-like events.
• Volatility: When it comes to slot machine lingo, volatility is a very useful term to know. In simple terms, it has to do with how much and how frequently a game would pay. A high-volatility slot pays less often but pays more. Conversely, a low-volatility game pays more often, but pays less per payout.
• Paylines: Paylines are specific combinations that pay when symbols appear there. However, paylines are not necessarily mandatory. Features such as all-ways pays and cluster pays are also available, and they often just require the symbols to be present anywhere on the reel, rather than appearing in a specific combination.
• Paytable: The paytable is another essential piece of slot machine terms. Essentially, these are the rules for how the slot game pays. There are often fixed paylines and specific combinations, and, more importantly, each symbol has its allocated value in the paytable. It is a handy guide to how much each symbol pays.

Slot machine lingo: Symbols and features

Next up, it’s important to understand the actual gameplay elements of a slot machine, as well as understand what these terms mean.

Slot machine lingo you will hear people say

Depending on where you are in the world, you will hear all sorts of terms used to describe slot machines. Here are a couple of popular terms to keep in mind.

• Pokies: Pokies is the term used to describe slot machines that is commonly used in Australia and New Zealand. While they are technically called poker machines, many people refer to them as pokies colloquially. The etymology might have to do with the fact that early slot machines would need you to match several-of-a-kind to win - like a poker combination.
• Fruit machines: Fruit machines is a British term used to describe slot machines. The etymology may have to do with the fact that early slot machines used fruits as their preferred display symbols.
• One-armed bandit: This is a popular term that describes a classic slot machine, before the modern day of slots, when a person would have to pull a physical lever in order to spin the reels. The bandit in the name comes from the fact that you may win, but you may very well lose, or be "robbed" by the "bandit."
• Penny slots: Penny slots are a popular slot term used to describe games that require a small amount of money to place a minimum wager. They are popular with budget players and can still lead to some alright wins.
• Hot and cold slots: Part of the gambler’s fallacy, hot and cold slots are machines that are supposed to either be less likely to pay at a certain time or more likely to pay. This is, of course, not correct, as even though a slot can go without a win for a while, this doesn’t automatically increase the chance of people winning if they play the slot because it’s suddenly "hot."

Mind your language and stick to the facts

Understanding slot lingo will allow you to understand the games themselves. Slots are based on random outcomes, and as such, you may not influence them. Then again, by understanding technical terms such as volatility and RTP, you can choose the best online slots for yourself. Remember to enjoy the game, and stick to the facts.

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