A slot is a container for dynamic items on the web. It can either wait for content (a passive slot) or a targeter can call it to load its contents (an active slot). Slots are grouped with scenarios in the ATG Personalization Programming Guide to help you understand how they work together.
When you play a slot, your chances of winning are determined by a random number generator (RNG). The RNG runs thousands of numbers per second and then stops them at just the right spot to land on a symbol on the reels. This is why so many slots have quick game rounds; it’s to give you the impression that a win is imminent, when in fact the result was already decided as soon as you hit the spin button.
Another way the RNG gives you the illusion of a near-win is with the weighting on each reel. Usually, the higher symbols are weighted more heavily than the lower ones, so you might think you’re close to hitting the jackpot when you get two paying symbols on a row but then the third blank space just above. In reality, the odds of getting the third jackpot symbol are poorer than those of the first two.
There’s also superstition around slot machines that can sometimes confuse players. For example, some believe that the machine knows when it’s about to pay out and will make a different decision because of this. This is a silly notion, as the result of one spin is independent of any other results and just like rolling a dice, your chance of getting a 6 is the same no matter how many times you roll it.