Have you ever wondered what a word or phrase meant?
Wonder no more. Because below you’ll find a list of the most commonly used words or phrases for slots and online casinos, and what they mean.
Autoplay / Autospin
A feature that, when turned on, will spin the wheels for you at the denomination and number of paylines you choose. They will spin over and over until you turn it off or run out of credits.
Bankroll
The amount of money you have to play with.
Bars
A common symbol, especially on older 3-reel classic machines. These are black rectangles with the word bar written in them in white. There are usually single, double or triple bars per symbol/reel.
Big Bertha
A nickname for the oversized machines that have 8-10 reels.
Bonus Round or Feature
A special mode of play – like a mini game – that is often triggered by a combination of specific symbols – usually bonus symbols. You can win credits, multipliers, free spins, etc.
Browser Casino
See Instant Casino.
Cashback
Money paid to you from the casino. This is usually some form of incentive, like a comp or part of your player’s card membership.
Comps
Points, cashback or other incentives the casino offers to you in exchange for playing. For example, the casino might give you $1 for every $10 or $100 you spend. Or 1 point for every $1 you spend.
Credit
The amount of money you have in your account in the denomination you’re playing in. For example, if you’re playing in .10 increments and you have $1 in your account you’d have 10 credits.
Denomination
The size of the coin / bet you can make. For example, many machines let you bet in denominations of .01, .02, .05, .10, .25, .50, 1, 5, 10, etc.
Deposit Bonus
An amount of money the casino offers to first time depositors. These are usually matched bonuses. For example, you might be offered a 100% match up to $1,000. For every dollar you deposit the casino will give you another dollar to play with.
Fruit Slots
A nickname for machines with mostly fruit symbols. This is more common in the UK.
Hit
A winning combination / payline.
Hit Frequency
How often a machine is going to hit a winning combo or payline.
Hold Button
A button you can use to hold a reel in place while the other reels continue spinning.
Instant Casino
A casino that uses Flash, Java or HTML5 technology to power their games. None of these require the player to download any software. You can play from your browser.
Jackpot
A pile of money you can win for hitting a specific combination.<
Loose Machine
A machine that pays out more frequently.
Max Bet
A button on a machine that automatically wagers the max amount for your denomination. For example, on a 40-line machine at a one penny denomination, a max bet would be .40 cents.
Minimum Bet
The smallest amount you can bet per line/spin.
Multiplier
A number you can receive that multiplies your payout. For example, if you received a 3x multiplier and you hit a combination that pays out $1, your new payout would be $3. Multipliers are usually a reward in bonus rounds or are given out at random.
No Download Casino
See Instant Casino.
Nudge Button
A button you can use to nudge a reel in either direction.
One-Armed Bandit
A name for a slot machine with a lever on the side. It refers to the lever on the side of the machine, and the fact that slot machines have poor odds.
Pay Table
A chart that displays all the winning combinations, rules and paylines for a slot game. Read our Pay Table article for more information.
Payback Percentage
This is a percentage of how much is paid back out to players over the life of the machine. For example, a 95 percent payout would mean .95 of every dollar is paid back out to players. Can also be called Return to Player.
Payline
A line that pays if a winning combination is made. Some machines, like classics, only pay on the middle line, while more modern machines pay on all kinds of lines, diagonals, etc.
Payout
The amount a line pays out. Or the amount you’re paid for the winnings lines you hit.
Progressive Jackpot
A machine with a jackpot that builds with ever max bet made. These jackpots build until a player hits the winning combination.
Random Number Generator
Also referred to as an RNG. These are programs that (online) casinos use to ensure a slot machine is random and fair.
Reels
These are what spin the symbols around in a slot machine. The most common machines have 3, 4 and 5 reels.
Rollover
The amount of money you need to wager to fulfill the terms of your deposit bonus. You need to fulfill this BEFORE you can receive a cash out, or else you void your bonus money and/or your winnings. Read our bonus guide for more information.
Scatter Symbols
A symbol that can appear on any reel in any place that can activate a winning combo, even if it’s not on a payline.
Slot Tournament
An event where each player buys in for a specific amount creating a prize pool. Each player plays a slot machine until they spend so many credits. The person with the highest score wins.
Tight Machine
A slot that pays out less frequently.
Video Slot
A machine with a video screen that has graphics like a video game.
Wilds
Symbols that can become any symbol needed in order to create a winning combination.
Do you know of a slot word or phrase, but you’re not sure what it means. Send us an email and we’ll include it here.
