Handpay Tax Slot Machine

Introduction to $60,000 Hand Pay

Are you ready? Are you ready to win a 60-thousand-dollar slot machine jackpot? Are you sure? From making the bet to income tax preparation, I’ll have to deal with after having won.

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One of my biggest issues with slot machine casino gambling has been the surprises, like winning an unexpectedly large jackpot. Of course, it’s possible to win big jackpots. We all know that’s possible, so why not be ready? Here’s what to expect if you win big.

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What It’s Like to Win Big

I’ve won 90 taxable jackpots in nine months in a U.S. state where slot machine jackpots became automatically taxable at $1,200. Of those hand pays, three exceeded $10,000. On average, one in 30 of those 90 jackpots exceeded $10,000. This excludes the $40,000 cash option I got for winning a car at the end of those nine months.

My first big jackpot was for $27,000. So far, this is my largest jackpot won playing slot machines. I won it early on Saturday, December 21, 2013, at 5:40 a.m. at Horseshoe Cincinnati, since purchased and renamed JACK Cincinnati Casino then sold again in 2019 to become Hard Rock Cincinnati.

I won this $27,000 hand pay on a Red-Blue-White Seven’s slot machine in the high limit slots room. I’d made the maximum bet on this $10-denomination, 2-credit slot machine.

I was checking to see if I could cycle my bankroll on this slot machine as well as testing to see if it was a winning slot machine. I’d just about decided I was wasting my money because it wasn’t showing any evidence of bankroll cycling when it hit.

I remember the moment clearly. It was very early in the morning. I’d started my session at 4 a.m. and had already won a small hand pay. I remember seeing someone win their own hand pay behind me, but couldn’t see how much.

A floor manager was there with the slot attendant during their hand pay, so it must have been over $10,000. As the floor manager and slot attendant walked away after the hand pay, they began walking by me.

Just as they approached, my $27,000 jackpot hit. I looked down, saw the 2,700-credit hit, looked up at the floor manager looking at me, and swore.

That was embarrassing. I don’t usually swear. But, at that moment, I felt the need to do so. I swore right while looking the floor manager in the eye. He kept walking, now with a frown.

I called out to him, to explain. “Excuse me! Sorry about that! I didn’t mean to swear, but I just won a jackpot. A really big jackpot!”

They came back. Right about then, 30 seconds after the slot machine hit, I basically went into shock. Since I’d started gambling again after nearly 10 years, my biggest jackpot was $5,000. I’d won it three times over the last month, since I’d started gambling again, and every time was hard on me.

But now, I’d won more than five times that. It wasn’t easy. I remember telling the floor manager how unreal and dreamlike it felt. I even asked the slot attendant to pinch me. She did. It didn’t help.

And, after the hand pay, I had trouble deciding what to do next. Should I just go on with my day? Should I stick to the plan I had had in mind? Or, was my plan of gambling all day ruined? Hint: You’re done – go home.

Can you imagine how I was feeling? I know some of you can indeed imagine it. I know because some of you have won even bigger jackpots while playing slots.

How to Be Ready, Just in Case

Are you ready to win a big jackpot the next time you play a slot machine? To be ready, you’ll need some essentials like your government-issued I.D. But there are other ways you’ll probably want to be ready, which I’ll go over soon.

You’ll need the government-issued I.D. to receive a taxable jackpot at a casino. That’s essential. If you don’t have it with you, nice casinos will let you go to your car for it. But, I don’t think you should count on the casino letting you go home to get it.

If you’re anything like me, you might find yourself not quite yourself after winning a big jackpot. To be ready, think it through in advance. Make yourself a plan. Then, if/when it happens, all you need to do is remember the plan.

It doesn’t have to be a complicated plan. Just ask yourself these simple questions. After you get the hand pay, will you stay? Or will you go? There will be more decisions to make, but that’s really the most important one.

As I’ve told my college students during career discussions, I don’t care what your plan is. I care that you have a plan. We’re not having a career discussion right now, but I think you get the point.

Will you leave the casino or will you make a night of it? Personally, I’d leave. I’d leave as soon as I could. I didn’t know that in advance of my biggest jackpot, but I do now. That’s my plan. What’s yours?

Choices: Handling the Hand Pay

Imagine you’ve just won your biggest jackpot ever. And you have your I.D. You might even have a player’s club card, so your personal information is on file with the casino. Next up is the hand pay and more decisions.

If you’ve never won a taxable jackpot before, no matter what size, the hand pay process is straight-forward. You win a jackpot. The machine locks up. A slot attendant comes. You do paperwork. Someone else shows up to verify the jackpot. Finally, you’re paid.

I’ve already explained the hand pay process when winning a taxable jackpot playing slots in How Do Slot Machines Pay Out Taxable Jackpots.

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But, there are some slight changes to this process when winning big jackpots. In most states, jackpots of $10,000 or more require that the jackpot verifier is a floor manager rather than another slot attendant.

Tip #1: You can tip the slot attendant, and in my opinion should, but you can’t tip the floor manager. If they say it’s okay, the floor manager will take a tip to put into the group tip jar for all the slot attendants. But, typically, floor managers can’t receive tips.

Tip #2: This is your chance to meet a floor manager. It’s a priceless opportunity. Get to know them. Make friends, if you can. Floor managers know a lot more about what’s going on in a casino than slot attendants. Ask questions. Be nice. Thank me later.

You do have another choice to make, however. For jackpots just over the taxable limit but under $10,000, casinos will provide banded stacks of $5,000 when you ask for cash instead of a check. Other casinos only provide banded stacks of $10,000.

I’m trying to get away from collecting those paper bands around $10k in hundreds, but it’s been a surprisingly difficult habit to break.

Either way, for a large jackpot where you ask for cash, you can expect banded stacks (sometimes called bricks) of hundred-dollar bills. Personally, I have found it’s nice when a slot attendant counts out 100-dollar bills in my hand. Professionally, I advise you to take most or all the jackpot as a check.

That is if your plan includes requesting some or all your taxable jackpot in cash. It’s really your choice, however. What’s your plan, again? Remember, preparation is key.

So when you spin the reels, the RNG ensures that whatever outcome it produces is totally random.Some people might sit and play slots for hours on end, winning nothing, while someone else may come along and win on their first spin.And when they pay out, they really pay out Slots pay out how much each day in Vegas?The found that in 2017 there were 38,434 slots in operation across 40 locations on the Las Vegas Strip. That gives an insight into how much money is pumped into the machines each day.It should be noted that these figures might be for Las Vegas but it is a trend that echoes around the world. That equates to an average slot generating $226 per day.This figure is even more startling when you consider that most slot machines have an. It was estimated that those machines generated revenues worth $269,527,000 per month. Slot machine wins reddit. The average slot pays out at a rate of 93-94%.

What Comes Afterward

If you do request cash and end up leaving the casino without spending it, I should mention what happens at a bank when you go to deposit $10,000 or more in cash. It’s just the same as any other cash deposit, except for the Currency Transaction Report (CTR).

The CTR is a reporting requirement for U.S. financial institutions regarding all cash deposits, withdrawals, and currency exchanges of $10,000 or more. When making a deposit of at least $10,000, it will be reported to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) within the U.S. Treasury Department.

FinCEN began in 1990 but became its own bureau under the USA Patriot Act passed in 2002. In part, it monitors and analyzes financial transactions for illegal transactions. This includes financial crimes related to money laundering and corruption.

Over recent years, I’ve deposited more than $10,000 in cash multiple times at my bank and never had a concern. They do ask where the money came from to which I typically respond, “I won it at the casino.”

I don’t think you have any cause for concern as earning money at a casino isn’t an illegal transaction. My lack of concern here hinges on understanding that big jackpots generate a W-2G tax form when won at a casino. So, if FinCEN does become interested, it wouldn’t take much for the U.S. Treasury to confirm the source of that much cash.

Nevertheless, I thought you should know about the CTR. There is another aspect to accepting a lot of cash you should probably be aware of. In my mind, it’s slightly more important than the CTR. It’s this: How much cash can you carry?

Let’s say you’re wearing a pair of men’s jeans or trousers with typical size pockets, not woman’s jeans with their surprisingly small pockets. Let’s further say you’re not wearing a jacket or carrying any sort of purse.

Finally, let’s assume all your cash is in $100 bills. Under those circumstances, how much cash can you carry without it being in your hand or sticking out somewhere for anyone to notice?

With a wallet in one pocket and a mobile phone in another, I’ve been able to tuck away 200 $100 bills, or $20,000, in all the pockets of a typical pair of men’s jeans. Let’s say you won a big jackpot which you accepted as cash and after taxes have $50,000 in your hand.

What do you do with it? Yes, you can fill all your pockets with $20,000 of it. What about the remaining $30,000? Do you ask the casino to provide a brown paper bag, perhaps? Once again, make sure you have a plan in case you win.

One final note about getting home. Feel free to ask the casino for security to walk you to your car. They’re perfectly happy to do so. Unlike me, try to remember where you parked your car. It can be surprisingly hard to remember that little fact when you’re clutching tens of thousands of dollars in your sweaty hands.

Huge Slot Handpays

Preparing for Income Taxes

One time I was sitting two seats away from someone who looked like they had never been in a casino’s high limit slots room. Do you know that look? Anyway, they looked both nervous and like they wanted to go.

Suddenly, and it’s always sudden, they won a $4,800 jackpot. They just nodded to themselves and started hitting the cash-out ticket button. Which, naturally enough, wasn’t working because the slot machine had locked up after hitting a jackpot over $1,200.

When the cash out button wouldn’t work, they turned and looked at me with a question in their eyes. This is where I walked right into trouble. I said, “Oh, the machine’s locked up because you’ve won a big jackpot. Don’t worry, the slot attendant should be here any moment to help you with getting it as well as paying taxes.”

I was just trying to be helpful. I imagine you know what happened next. They practically yelled, “Taxes? Taxes?!”

As they became more and more upset at me, I tried to disengage from the conversation. Luckily for me, the slot attendant arrived right about then to save me.

Slot attendants are great. Seriously. I always remember how upset this taxable jackpot winner was whenever I work with a slot attendant. It is what I remember whenever I tip my slot attendant after winning my own taxable jackpots.

So, if or when you win an automatically taxable jackpot, you’ll be working with a slot attendant. I’ve already described what that is like. But let’s discuss income taxes for a moment.

On Twitter, one of my 10,000+ followers said, “The amount of the taxable jackpot needs to be raised.”

My response was, “Why? It’s still taxable, even if you don’t get a W-2G hand pay. But, I do appreciate the sentiment. I really do.”

If you win $10 at a casino, it’s still taxable income. This gets confusing fast though, because what if you spend that $10 in the next few minutes without it ever leaving the slot machine?

Sometime later, I may write about the more practical aspects of casino gambling and disconnects with general requirements from the IRS. In brief, the IRS says all gambling income is taxable and state gaming regulations usually say using an electronic device during gaming is a felony.

A practical compromise would be to record how much bankroll you walk into a casino with and how much winnings you walk out with, including the free market value of any gifts. At least, doing this is possible.

What isn’t confusing is what happens when the casino issues a W-2G income tax form reported directly to the IRS. Casinos austria online gaming. If you choose to accept a taxable jackpot, then you will receive a W-2G.

As an aside, some people can’t afford or otherwise don’t want taxable jackpots. For instance, my family friends Lois and Dave in my article Seminole Brighton Casino Florida Trip Report, are from Canada.

For them, any gambling income from their annual visits to U.S. casinos is foreign income and potentially subject to taxation by the Canadian government. Yikes! Apparently, as usual with income taxes, what to do is very individualized.

Handepay tax slot machines

My admittedly limited understanding is, and please don’t consider me as any kind of professional or expert with regards to international tax law, my Canadian friends can earn some income when gambling in the U.S. – but not a lot of income. A $60,000 taxable jackpot may well be too much, too difficult, and therefore unwanted. Maybe.

You can always choose not to accept a taxable jackpot. You can choose to walk away. An old slots joke is this: “The only way to legally avoid paying taxes after winning a jackpot of $1,200 or more is to simply not accept the winnings.”

That’s funny, yes? It’s funny but true. Also, be aware the automatically taxable limit for gambling income is instead $600 in Massachusetts, but perhaps eventually other states.

Finally, there are the tax choices you’ll need to make when filling out the paperwork for the taxable jackpot with the slot attendant.

  • A federal income tax withdrawal from your winnings is typically optional.
  • State income tax withdrawal is very state-dependent.
  • Local income tax withdrawal exists if the casino you are at is located within a city’s limits.
  • Other withdrawals may exist such as a nonrefundable 3% tax on jackpots over $1,200 in Mississippi as imposed by the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

If you keep good gambling records, it usually works out well to choose to not pay federal taxes. Why? Because keeping good gambling records means you’ll have gambling deductions to apply during your annual income tax preparation.

If you don’t keep gambling records or federal gambling deductions aren’t allowed due to your overall income, then you’ll need to always include a federal income tax withdrawal with every jackpot or suffer through an income tax payment when you eventually file your annual income tax return.

If you don’t keep good gambling records then, frankly, you should start. Why? Because the danger of not keeping gambling records is having to pay income taxes when they could have avoided them. What if you win big? What if you win so big that everything changes?

Isn’t that why you’re interested in my content, to succeed? To win more, and more often? Keep gambling records just in case you win a massive jackpot. Or lots of $1,200 hand pays which, in a year, adds up to the same large jackpot … or more. Make it part of your plan, okay?

Summary of $60,000 Hand Pay

Some time ago, a fan of my website and podcast named Richard from Gainesville, Georgia, contacted me via Twitter after he won a $60,000 slots jackpot, took a check, and immediately walked out of the casino. I was proud of how well he’d handled it and told him so at the time.

2020 Huge Handpay Slot Winners

How he handled a big jackpot reminded me of what it was like. My first time, I didn’t do as well as Richard. So, we’re talking about this now so you can do better than I did and perhaps as well as Richard if you won a large taxable jackpot.

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Have fun, be safe, and make good choices!
By Jon H. Friedl, Jr. Ph.D., President
Jon Friedl, LLC

Slot Machine Glossary – Slot Terms and Definitions

Slots are one of the easiest things to play in the casino but you need to understand all the terms and options before playing.

The goal for the slot machine glossary was to put together one of the most extensive slots terms documents online. I feel the goal has been accomplished. See if you agree when you finish reading.

Once you start winning, you can raise the amount up to 5 coins per spin. Mad Mad Monkey can be played with 0.01 coins per line. Mad money slot machine reno.

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Take a look and see if you can learn any new slot machine terms.

Action or Play – Action or play is the total amount of money wagered on a slot machine in a session or over a different time frame. Player’s club benefits are usually based on total action. When you put your club card in the slot machine it tracks your total play or action.

Bank of Slot Machines – A bank of slot machines is a group or row of machines sitting beside each other. Some of them may be physically connected, but they don’t have to be. The machines may share a common name or theme or they may be entirely different.

Basic Slots or One Line Slots – The simplest slot machines are one line or basic slots. Usually using only three reels, these slot machines are what dominated casino floors before all of the video slots became popular. Most of these machines have a simple pay out structure and only use a few symbols. Rarely will a basic slot machine have any type of jackpot because of the limited number of possible combinations.

Bet Max or Bet Max Button – Pay out charts are almost always based on a maximum wager. The bet max button automatically places a wager of the maximum amount based on your coin size. If the maximum bet is 10 coins per line and you set your coin size to 10 cents, the bet max button will bet $1 per line.

Bet One or Bet One Button – This button places a bet of a single coin when pushed. I don’t recommend using the bet one button because most of the top pay outs give a bonus based on a max bet. If you can’t afford to place a max bet find a slot machine that offers a smaller coin size.

Betting Units or Credits – A betting unit or credit is based on the size of coin you’re using and how much money you have in the machine. If you have $100 in the machine and are using a quarter coin size you have 400 betting units or credits.

Big Bertha Slot Machine – A Big Bertha slot machine is a marketing gimmick in the form of a huge slots game. Usually placed near a main entrance to the casino floor, these machines can have multiple reels (even more than normal slots) and take up as much space as a regular bank of machines.

Big Hit or Big Win – A big hit is simply a big win. One slots player may tell another they had a big hit after hitting a top pay out or jackpot.

Bonus Feature – A bonus feature is one of the new things that became available after the introduction of video slot machines. A common bonus feature is unlocked by hitting a certain combination of symbols and opens in a new screen. A bonus feature can be a different game entirely or include a mini movie or just be a different area with reels like the main game. Usually players have the chance at larger wins during a bonus feature than during normal game play.

Bonus Multiplier or Bonus Modifier – A bonus modifier or multiplier is a symbol or series of symbols that multiply a win by a certain amount. Common multipliers are two times (2X) and three times (3X) but they can be any amount the game is programmed for.

Branded Slots – Branded slot machines are themed after popular television shows or movie franchises. Examples include Wheel of Fortune Slots and Lord of the Rings slots.

Cashback or Cash Back – Cash back is exactly what it sounds like. Some player’s clubs offer cash back on slot machine play. Others only offer non cash comps, but if you look around you can find cashback slots offers both online and in land based casinos.

Certified Slots – Some casinos run promotions featuring certified slots. A certified slot machine has a payback percentage that’s been certified and is then advertised by the casino. Most certified promotions feature slots or groups of slot machines that pay out 97% or higher. Occasionally you may even be able to participate in a promotion that offers certified slots that have a 100% pay back percentage.

Coin In and Coin Out – Coin in is the total amount of coins or credits played in a machine and the coin out is the total amount of coins paid out of the machine.

Coins – Coins are the size of the base wager on a slot machine. In the past you could play with actual coins or tokens, but most slot machines today are played with cash or slots vouchers or tickets.

Coin Size – The coin size is the amount each coin is worth. Some machines only have one coin size but some allow you to adjust the coin size. Coin sizes include penny, nickel, dime, quarter, fifty cents, dollar, and five dollar.

Cold Slots – A cold slot machine is one that hasn’t paid out in a long time. Many players believe machines run hot or cold, but mathematically machines simply pay out the percentage that they’re programmed to pay out over time.

Comps – Comps are earned through a player’s club for playing slot machines and other casino games. Comps can include free hotel stay, free meals, free flights, cash back, coupons, special deals, and just about anything else of value the casino may give you in exchange for your play.

Credits – When you put money into a slot machine it’s divided by the coin size to get the total number of credits you have to play with. If the machine has a coin size of 50 cents and you put in $60 you have 120 credits.

Denomination – The denomination is the size of the coin for the slot machines. Some machines let you change the denomination but some have a set coin size.

Fixed Value Slots – A fixed value slot machines has only one size bet available. You can’t pick how many lines, coins per line, or the coin value. These machines aren’t as rare as many think. Some players prefer a simple playing decision and these machines fit the bill. All you do is put money in and hit the spin button.

Five Line Slot or Five Liner – A five line slot machine simply has five possible pay lines. This isn’t a term used often now because of the explosion of availability of 25 line and higher machines

Free Spins – Free spins are exactly what they say. Most free spins are part of a bonus situation or game or a multiplier or other special feature.

Hammer A Machine – Hammering a slot machine is a slang term used to describe playing a single machine for hours on end. The most common reason for hammering a machine is when a progressive jackpot is high and the player is hoping to hit it.

Hit and Run – Hit and run describes a slots player who plays a few spins on a machine and then moves on to the next machine. These players usually are looking for a hot machine so if a slot doesn’t hit in a few spins the player moves on until she finds a machine that hits a win in the first few spins.

Hit Frequency – Hit frequency is how often a slot machine pays out a winning hand. Some machines pay out less on a greater number of hands while others pay out fewer times but larger amounts when they do pay. You’ll find players who like both types of machines, but generally they like to win more often, even if the wins are smaller than on tighter machines.

Hold Percentage – The hold percentage is how much the slot machine keeps as a percentage of total play or action for the casino. If a slot machine pays back 96%, the hold percentage is 4%. This means that in the long run the machine earns $4 for every $100 that’s wagered.

Hot Slots or Hot Slot Machine – A hot slot machine is the opposite of a cold one. A hot machine seems to be paying out at a higher than average rate. Many players jump from machine to machine in hopes of finding a hot machine.

Jackpot – The jackpot is the top pay out amount on a slot machine. Sometimes the jackpot is a progressive top prize that climbs with each spin until a player wins it.

Line or Pay Line – A line is usually from left to right and is the plane or area where you need to line up matching symbols to win a pay out. You activate one or more lines on most slot machines and if a line isn’t activated you can’t win for combinations on that line.

Linked Progressive Jackpot – Some progressive slot machines are linked to other machines. Most of the time the machines are all the same brand, but they don’t have to be. This helps progressive jackpots climb faster because more machines are feeding the top prize. The machines don’t have to be in the same casino to be linked. Online casinos often offer progressive games shared by hundreds of different casinos.

Loose Slots –A loose slot machine is one that is paying out more often than normal, or one that appears to be doing so. Loose slots is another name for hot slots.

Multiplier – A multiplier is an amount a winning spin is multiplied by. Multipliers usually are associated with free spins, scatter symbols, or another special feature or symbol.

Near Miss – A near miss is when a symbol lands just above or below a line that would have made a nice pay out.

Nickel Slots – Nickel slot machines are ones using a 5 cent coin size. While you can generally play for only a nickel a spin, most of these machines require a larger bet size per spin to have a chance to win the top amount. The coin size is still five cents but you have to bet more than one coin per line and / or more than one line.

Nudge Slot – A nudge slot machine moves a symbol that’s close to making a winning combination the little extra it needs to line up for a win. This is just a gimmick on how a winning spin is displayed, but some players enjoy the thought of nudging the machine to make a losing spin a win.

One Armed Bandit – A one armed bandit is a term for a slot machine with a lever on the side. Many slot machines don’t have levers now, but in the old days they all had arms on the side you had to pull down to activate the reels.

One Liner or One Line Machine – A one line slot machine only has a single pay line. Fewer and fewer one line slots are available as multi line video slots games have become more popular.

Slot

Payback Percentage – Payback percentage is the amount of money the slot machine pays back as a percentage of the amount wagered trough a machine. A slot machine that has a 93% payback percentage pays back $93 out of every $100 on average to the player. In the short run the percentage will vary a great deal, but in the long run it’ll average out correctly.

Pay Line or Payline – A pay line is a line where matching symbols must line up to match winning combinations listed on the pay table. Most machines have multiple pay lines that must be activated to be eligible to win.

Payout or Pay Out – A pay out is how much you get for a specific winning combination of symbols. For example, you might get a payout of 25 coins for lining up four matching symbols from left to right on any pay line.

Pay Table – The pay table is the screen or card that explains which matching symbols pay and how much they pay.

Penny Slots – Penny slots are set for a coin size of one cent. Rarely can you actually play for a penny a spin because you have to activate multiple lines and play more than one coin per line.

Primary Jackpot – A primary jackpot is the top paying jackpot on a machine that has more than one jackpot. Some machines have a secondary or group of secondary jackpot amounts.

Progressive Slot Machines – A progressive slot machine has a top payout that grows with each spin. Most progressive jackpots are tied to multiple machines so the jackpot grows quickly. A percentage of each spin is added to the progressive amount.

Quarter Slots – A slot machine with a set coin amount of 25 cents.

Reels – Reels are the wheels that spin inside the machine or appear to spin on the screen of a video slot machine. The most common machines have three or five reels, but other sizes are sometimes available. I’ve seen seven and ten reel machines, but they aren’t common.

Random Number Generator or RNG – The computer program that controls the outcome of the slot machine is called a random number generator. Each possible outcome has a number or numbers assigned to it and the RNG picks a number at random for every spin. A particular losing combination may have hundreds of numbers attached to it and the top pay out may only have one number assigned to it.

Scatter Symbol – A special symbol that can land anywhere on the reels and still pay out or unlocks a bonus of some sort without landing on particular lines. The symbol is scattered all over the screen instead of lining up.

Second Screen Bonus – Video slot machines sometimes have a bonus round that launches after certain combinations are hit. A second screen bonus is one that opens on a second or different screen from the regular game play screen.

Secondary Jackpot – Some slot machines have more than one jackpot. The highest jackpot is called a primary and all of the others are called secondary jackpots.

Select Lines – Used to select the pay lines you want to activate for the next spin. Most players either play the maximum number of lines or a single line.

Slot

Slots Club or Player’s Club – The slots club or player’s club offers rewards or comps for your slots play. The more you play the higher the possible rewards.

Slots Host – The casino employee who takes care of slot machine questions or issues is called a slots host.

Slots Schedule – A slots schedule is another name for a pay chart or pay out chart. Most players don’t use this terminology now.

Slot Machine Tournament – A slot machine tournament is when you pay a set entry fee and play for a set period of time for the chance to win cash and prizes. The players with the highest amount at the end of play win the listed prizes.

Sound of Rain – The sound of rain is an old saying that slots players used when actual coins were used in the slot machines. The sound of rain was the sound of coins hitting the metal tray at the bottom of the machine after a big win.

Spin or Spin Button – The spin button is used to start spinning the reels. The spin button replaced the lever on the side of the slot machine.

Streaky Slots – A streaky slot machine is one that players believe runs hot or cold in streaks. A machine is usually believed to run both hot and cold at different times if it’s streaky.

Symbols – The symbols are the pictures of different items on the reels of the slot machine. You need to line matching symbols up on an activated pay line to win. Symbols can be anything from a bar to an elaborate portrait. Popular symbols include cherries and pictures that match the theme of the slot machine.

TITO Ticket In / Ticket Out – Slot machines have mostly stopped accepting coins and use cash and tickets to accept money and pay out money. You may put cash or a ticket in the machine but when you cash out the machine prints a ticket. You take the ticket to the cage when you’re ready to cash out.

Tight Slots – A tight slot machine is one that seems to be paying out at a lower than expected rate. It may be paying out fewer times than expected or fewer coins than expected.

Total Bet – The total bet is the total amount of coins or money wagered on a slot machine for the current spin.

243 Pay Lines Machine – Some new slot machines have 243 pay lines, claiming to cover every possible pay line. They simplify things in one way, but if you try to figure out all the possible pay lines you’ll probably end up with a headache.

Video Slots – A video slot machine has a picture of reels on the screen, like a video game. You won’t find any actual reels inside the cabinet of a video slots game.

Voucher or Ticket – A voucher or ticket is the same thing I described in the ticket in ticket out section above. A ticket is printed when you take money out of the slot machine and you can exchange the ticket for cash in the cage or use it at a different slot machine.

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Wide Area Progressive or WAP – A wide area progressive is one with slot machines from different areas connected for a single progressive jackpot. Any player on one of these machines can win the jackpot and all the players are making the progressive amount go up as they play.

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Wild Symbols – Wild symbols, usually found on video slot machines, are used in place of other symbols to help you form winning pay line combinations. Some wild symbols offer a multiplier bonus when used in a winning pay line. See the pay chart on your machine for more details.