A narrow notch or opening, such as a keyway in a lock or a slot for a coin in a machine. A position in a group, series, or sequence; also, the time or place at which something is scheduled to occur.

A slot is the narrow opening in a machine into which coins are inserted to activate the machine and make it work. It is also the term for a position at a newspaper, such as the chief copy editor’s slot.

The term slot is also used to refer to a set of times when an aircraft can take off or land, which are allocated by an airport or air-traffic control authority. For example, an airline may request a slot for a flight at Heathrow Airport, and it will then be assigned one based on the availability of runway capacity. These slots can be very valuable – the slot for an early morning flight from Nairobi sold for $75 million in 2016.

In computer hardware, a slot is a site on a motherboard where you can insert printed circuit boards (PCBs). The slots in a computer are sometimes called expansion slots or bays, although these terms are technically different. The PCBs inserted into expansion slots are called add-on boards.

Slot is also a type of video game that uses spinning reels to display symbols and pays out credits according to the paytable. The number of symbols and the paytable vary by machine, but classic symbols include fruits, bells, and stylized lucky sevens. Some slots have progressive jackpots, which can increase the amount of money a player wins over time.

When it comes to playing online slots, there are many options for players. Some offer a fixed award for any bet size, while others require filling up a progress bar to win. It is important to understand how a slot machine’s paytable works before you play it.

The first thing that is important to consider when choosing a slot machine is its return to player percentage. This number is calculated by the probability of each payout on the paytable and is an essential factor in determining whether or not a particular slot is worth your time. Ideally, you want to find a slot with a high RTP percentage that will pay out frequently and keep you from losing too much money. However, this is not always possible, as some machines have a lower RTP percentage than others.