A slot is an area of a computer motherboard that holds an expansion card. A slot may also refer to a specific expansion slot, such as an ISA (Industry Standard Architecture), PCI, or AGP (accelerated graphics port) slot.

A jackpot is a prize that can be won on a slot machine. Some jackpots require a specific combination of symbols to trigger, while others are randomly awarded. In either case, it is important to understand the rules of a particular game before playing to avoid losing too much money.

Many slot games have a pay table that shows the payout values of various symbols in a winning combination. The pay table may also provide information on bonus features and how to trigger them. In addition, the pay table may indicate how many pay lines a slot has. Some slots allow players to choose how many paylines they want to bet on, while others automatically wager on all available paylines.

In a slot machine, the reels spin and stop to display combinations of symbols on the screen. The symbols vary depending on the theme of the machine, but classic symbols include fruits, bells, and stylized lucky sevens. Players can insert cash or, in “ticket-in, ticket-out” machines, a paper ticket with a barcode into a designated slot on the machine. Then, they can activate the machine by pressing a lever or button. The machine then calculates a sequence of numbers and matches them to stop locations on the reels.