Casino & Slot Glossary
30 casino terms defined without the marketing gloss. Every definition has its own anchor link, so you can point readers straight to a single term.
- Autoplay
- A slot feature that spins automatically for a set number of rounds. Some regulators, including the UK Gambling Commission, have banned it for online slots.
- Bankroll
- The total money you've set aside for gambling. Managing it means deciding bet sizes and loss limits relative to that amount in advance.
- Bonus Buy
- An option to pay a fixed multiple of your stake to trigger a slot's bonus round immediately. It raises the cost per round and the swings; it's restricted in some jurisdictions.
- Cascading Reels
- Also called tumbling or avalanche reels: winning symbols disappear and new ones drop into place, allowing several wins from one paid spin.
- Cashback
- A bonus that refunds a percentage of net losses over a period, sometimes as withdrawable cash and sometimes as bonus funds with wagering attached.
- Cool-off Period
- A short, voluntary account block — typically 24 hours to six weeks — offered by licensed casinos as a break tool. Longer blocks are self-exclusion.
- Crash Game
- A game where a multiplier rises from 1× until it randomly 'crashes'; you must cash out before the crash to win your stake times the current multiplier.
- Deposit Limit
- A cap you set on how much you can deposit per day, week or month. Licensed operators must apply decreases immediately; increases usually have a delay.
- Game Contribution
- The percentage of each bet on a game that counts toward a bonus wagering requirement — often 100% for slots and 0–20% for table games. Wagering calculator →
- Hit Frequency
- How often a slot spin produces any win, expressed as a percentage or '1 in X'. A high hit rate doesn't mean a high RTP — many hits return less than the stake.
- House Edge
- The casino's built-in average advantage on a game, equal to 100% minus RTP. A 2.7% house edge means an average loss of $2.70 per $100 wagered. RTP calculator →
- KYC
- 'Know Your Customer' — the identity, age and address checks licensed casinos must complete, usually before your first withdrawal.
- Live Dealer
- Table games streamed from a studio with a human dealer, where you bet through an on-screen interface.
- Max Bet Rule
- A bonus term capping how much you can stake per spin or hand while wagering bonus funds. Breaking it can void the bonus and winnings.
- Max Win
- The largest payout a slot can produce on a single spin or feature, usually quoted as a multiple of the stake (e.g., 5,000×).
- Megaways
- A licensed reel mechanic, created by Big Time Gaming, where the number of symbols per reel changes every spin, producing a variable number of ways to win (up to 117,649 in the classic format).
- No-Deposit Bonus
- A small bonus credited without a deposit, usually with high wagering requirements and a low cap on withdrawable winnings.
- Paylines
- The fixed patterns across the reels on which matching symbols pay. 'Ways to win' games instead pay matching symbols on adjacent reels in any position.
- Progressive Jackpot
- A jackpot that grows as a small share of every bet is added to it, often pooled across many casinos, until one player wins it.
- RNG
- Random Number Generator — the software that determines every outcome in digital casino games. Licensed games have their RNG certified by independent test labs.
- RTP
- Return to Player — the percentage of all money staked that a game is designed to pay back over the long run. Many slots have several RTP versions, so the same title can differ between casinos. Slot RTP statistics →
- Reality Check
- A pop-up reminder at set intervals showing how long you've been playing and your net result for the session.
- Scatter
- A slot symbol that pays or triggers features wherever it lands, not only on a payline.
- Self-Exclusion
- A formal, longer-term block from gambling — from six months to five years or more. National schemes such as GAMSTOP (UK) cover every licensed operator at once. Responsible gambling resources →
- Sticky Bonus
- A bonus that can be played with but never withdrawn; it is removed from your balance when you cash out.
- Sweepstakes Casino
- A US model using free-to-obtain virtual currencies so games operate under sweepstakes law rather than gambling licences. Legality varies by state.
- Volatility
- How widely a game's results swing. Low-volatility slots pay small wins often; high-volatility slots pay rarely but can pay big. Volatility doesn't change the long-run RTP.
- Wagering Requirement
- The total amount you must bet before bonus money (and winnings from it) can be withdrawn, stated as a multiple of the bonus or of deposit plus bonus. Wagering calculator →
- Welcome Bonus
- An offer for new players, often a percentage match on the first deposit and/or free spins, subject to wagering requirements and other terms.
- Wild
- A slot symbol that substitutes for other symbols to complete wins. Variants include expanding, sticky and walking wilds.