A slot is a narrow opening, especially one for receiving something, such as a coin or a letter. The term may also refer to a position or assignment.
In slot machine play, a player inserts cash or, in “ticket-in, ticket-out” machines, a paper ticket with a barcode into a slot on the machine to activate it. The machine then displays a series of reels, and if the symbols line up in a winning combination, the player receives credits based on the pay table. Depending on the game, some slots have a theme — such as a specific style of casino, location or character — that determines the symbols and bonus features.
The 1960s were a turbulent decade in many ways, and gambling was no exception. Hirsch’s papers demonstrate that, during the period, many casino operators viewed slot machines as mere sideshow attractions and marginalized them.
A slot is a pool of resources that can be used by jobs in a job queue. To allocate slots, you create and assign reservations. A reservation is the lowest level at which you can specify slot assignments. When a resource in a reservation runs, it uses the slots that are assigned to its reservation. Resource allocation is governed by capacity-based pricing and on-demand pricing policies.