A slot is a narrow opening in something. For example, a coin might fit in the slot of a slot machine. Another type of slot is a position in an organization or hierarchy.
A slot can also refer to a certain time in the day when an activity is scheduled to happen. For example, a visitor might be given a time slot in which to visit the museum.
Charles Fey’s machine included different symbols, including diamonds, spades, horseshoes, hearts, and liberty bells. The machines were also programmed to display different probabilities of a winning combination. This allowed them to pay out more frequently than previous devices, which often paid only on a single symbol per reel.
The emergence of microprocessors in slot machines enabled manufacturers to weight particular symbols differently from one other. Consequently, it became possible to appear as though a specific symbol was “so close,” whereas its probability of appearing on a paying line was actually much lower.
Slots are used for various purposes in the ATG Service Center, but some slot properties are particularly important to understand when working with offer management. In general, it is not recommended to use more than one scenario in a slot because this can cause unpredictable results. Instead, you should focus on configuring and managing individual slots to meet your needs. You can learn more about slots and their properties in the Using Slots chapter of the ATG Personalization Programming Guide.