In the aviation industry, a slot is a time in which a plane can take off. This can be delayed if other flights are ahead of it, but it is always better to wait for a slot rather than wasting air travel time on the ground or burning fuel by flying when unnecessary.
This is the main reason why central flow management was introduced, with big savings in terms of delays and fuel burn. In fact, there has been a similar saving for passengers on trains, buses, and even taxis and cars in Europe since they have started to use slots.
When you play a slot machine, you get paid for the winning combination on the paylines that you activated with your spin. The number of paylines can vary from one to many, and the payout rates can be low, medium or high. This means that some slots offer more chances to win, while others have a smaller jackpot and higher risk of losing.
The main difference between a traditional mechanical slot and modern video games is that the latter are operated by computer systems. This gives them the advantage of being transparent, allowing players to understand how they work. The computer system takes the RNG sequence and translates it to a set of numbers that correspond to the stops on each reel, producing the final sequence. The software then locates the internal table that matches this sequence to a specific stop on each reel, which is then recorded.