Talk like the Grandmas at the Slots

Why are we starting this section with such a bizarre title first of all?  The intention is by no means to offend a single person.  We are all part of the same warm gambling community, and can appreciate the humor that is found amongst us.  Let’s face it, movies and television shows have always shown the casino floor filled with older ladies seated for hours by the slot machines, holding a giant coin bucket and wearing their oversized indoor sunglasses.  The tacky-dressed grandmother seated by the slot machine has been a running motif both of Vegas and the casino portrait as a whole.  These ladies always seem to be the calmest ones at the casino and give the impression that they fit right in.  Without further delay, let’s begin to learn some of the slots vocabulary undoubtedly mastered by them to become so acclimatized with the game:

A reel, just like that of the movies, is the cylinder that spins and stops at one of the illustrations that are drawn on it.

Unlike video slot machines, or certainly the online slot machines, the traditional mechanical slots are the only ones that have actual reels in them

The symbols on the reels of a particular slot machine can vary from types of fruit, animals, or anything else along the lines of the specific theme of the machine.

The low level or slant top slot machines are of the “lazy” type that provides the player a stool to sit on while playing.  The upright or stand up machines don’t have a stool beside them.

The stingy slot machines that give away only a small percentage of winnings to the player are known as tight slots.

A loose slot, unlike its opposite (both are invented terms) is the highly sought after machine that pours out a high percentage of winnings to the players who sit beside it.

A grouping or row of slot machines is called a Carousel

It all comes down to the decision of a computer at the end.  RNG, or random number generator, is the computer brain of the slot machine that determines and generates all the different possibilities of results for each pull at the machine.  

The payline is the flat horizontal line on the machine that indicates where the symbols of the reel have to fall to be considered for a win.  

The pay table is the chart that illustrates for the player what wins can be earned through which combinations of symbols.  

In the situation that a slots machine is malfunctioning, the candle will flash its bulb to alert the casino operator that there is a problem.

A hand pay is just that, a win payment made by hand.  If the payout amount is above the maximum amount that the machine can pay out, the slot machine’s operator will come and do it manually.  A short pay, or partial payment, may be paid by the depleted machine to a winner before the operator comes and completes the payment.