A slot is a position in a group, series or sequence.
It is also the name of a place or time in aviation when an aircraft can take off or land as assigned by an airport or air traffic control. The term is also used for a job or position, such as chief copy editor: “He has the slot at the Gazette.”
In computer science, a slot is a piece of the operation issue and data path machinery surrounding a set of one or more execution units (also known as functional units). The relationship between an operation in an instruction and the pipeline to execute it is explicit. In very long instruction word (VLIW) computers, this is more clearly expressed using the concept of a slot as an executable unit.
A “hot slot” is a slot machine that has paid out the most money over a short period of time. It is not clear what determines a hot slot, but it may include the number of reels, specific symbols, paytables, denominations that can be played, and bonus rounds.
Although luck plays a significant role in winning at slots, choosing machines you enjoy can increase your enjoyment and chances of success. Picking machines based on their theme or the type of bonus features they have can make it more likely that you will enjoy playing them. Additionally, selecting slots with high volatility (those that win less often but when they do pay out the amounts are large) can teach you to be resilient and not give up too quickly.