A slot is an opening into which something can fit. It can also be a position or place, for example the slot on a desk reserved for the sub-editor of a newspaper.

Modern slot machines often feature bonus modes that award players with a variety of different types of prizes. These can include extra spins, board game-like bonuses or even jackpots. These bonuses are a great way to increase your chances of winning and can be a lot of fun. However, it’s important to remember that if you’re playing for real money, your return-to-player (RTP) is a key factor to consider.

A “slot” is also a term used in electromechanical slot machines to describe any type of mechanical fault that would cause the machine to malfunction or go out of order, such as a door switch in the wrong state or an out of paper problem. Modern slot machines are designed to detect these faults and are almost always equipped with an alarm or indicator that lets the player know the machine has a problem.

In computing, a slot is a place to insert an expansion card containing circuitry that adds capability to the computer. It is common for desktop computers to have a number of expansion slots, which are often used for specialized purposes such as video acceleration or sound control. In very long instruction word (VLIW) computers, the concept of a slot is generally replaced with that of an execute pipeline.