A narrow notch, groove, or opening, such as a keyway in a piece of machinery or a slit for a coin in a vending machine. Also: A position in a group, series, or sequence: The program got a new time slot on the broadcasting schedule.
In sports, a slot receiver is a short wide receiver who lines up outside the normal starting positions and receives the ball from the quarterback in the direction of his pre-snap motion. These players are usually faster and more agile than traditional wide receivers. They often run more running plays than other receivers, including pitch and reverses and end-arounds. They must be able to position themselves well enough to avoid being hit by fast defenders.
The term slot is also used in electronic gaming machines to refer to a particular position on the reels that a certain symbol must appear in order to trigger a bonus game or other feature. These games usually have multiple paylines, and the odds of winning a jackpot are increased by playing all of the active paylines.
The number of coins per spin can affect the chances of a jackpot on a video slot machine, but not on a reel machine. Because of this, many online casinos have special sections of the site dedicated to slots that are categorized as high limit games. This allows them to offer higher payouts than the standard machines that are available in brick-and-mortar casinos. These games are usually clustered together on the casino floor, and they can be identified by a red or gold badge.