Glossary

Advantage/Advantage Player/AP/Grinder/Vulture/Hustler:
Usually in reference to whether a machine can offer an edge at the right numbers. Many machines can never fit this profile. But plenty do, and having that ability can make something a possible “advantage play.” The person who does this is called an advantage player, or AP for short. I prefer “grinder” instead of “vulture.” One is cool and edgy. “Yeah, I’m a grinder. I set my own rules and make tons of money!” The other is kind of gross and barbaric. “Yeah, I waited two hours for that min bet Regal and then ended up losing $30.” But they mean the same thing: people who often wait behind slot machines and pick up the scraps. Actually, that does sound like a vulture, so I use all these terms interchangeably.

Camp/Camping:
Grinders often do a lot of this. Think of it as setting up a base camp behind a machine or set of machines and waiting for numbers to become favorable. If you see people who fit the grinder profile—often men in their 30s or 40s, staring intently at a machine—you’ll probably want to move on to greener pastures. If you’re doing it yourself, make sure the person on the machine isn’t a vulture and that the bet is worth your time. Someone quickly min-betting with a big voucher wouldn’t fit the bill. That’s usually a grinder anyway. Someone on a bigger bet with a dwindling ticket … well, that’s like a wounded antelope in the savanna.

Clone/Skin:
This is a big one to remember. Often, slot machine manufacturers—whether IGT, Ainsworth, Aristocrat, or any number of others—will roll out a “new” machine, but it’s not actually a new machine. I won’t call it laziness (lack of creativity, perhaps?), but on top of seeing the same animal themes come up all the time, including dragons, buffalo, and wolves, many of these manufacturers only have so many gameplay options in their arsenal. And it makes sense if you think about it; it’s hard work to develop a unique slot machine, and it’s much easier to keep the same programming and change Dancing Dolphins to Hopping Hyenas. (Those are made-up examples, by the way.) In the advantage world, we call those games “clones.” I’ve also heard “skins” … maybe a Midwestern thing. They may look different, sound different, and smell different, but they play the same way and can be taken with the same minimum requirements. 

Customer/Fish/Ploppy:
People who feed slot machines, often go broke, and leave a favorable setup. Just as fat-bottomed girls make the rockin’ world go round, ploppies make the slot world go round. Make sure not to piss these people off if you are camping a machine they’re on.

Denom/Denomination:
Many slot machines offer bets on different denominations—1 cent, 2 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, for instance—and I’d argue this is done to confuse the average customer. For example, instead of just saying you’re betting $5, it might have 500 credits on the 1-cent denom, 250 credits on the 2-cent denom, and so on. That said, when looking for advantage plays, click through every denom and bet within those denoms to see if you can find anything. On advantage games, something will change as you change the bet. We’re here to find out exactly what that something is.

EV:
This is a mathematical term that means expected value. It’s the average result on a given play over time. In the casino gambling world, you want to make as many +EV plays as you can and avoid the -EV ones.

Fast-spinning/Slow-spinning:
Grinders almost always spin a machine quickly, as there’s no benefit to betting slowly. (Although in the future, perhaps pros won’t want to give off pro vibes.) Conversely, if you see someone slow-spinning, they’re often not a grinder and are at a casino as much for the experience as anything. Factor in both when deciding whether to camp a play.

Line Hit:
A pay line, as in any spin where you match symbols and register a win. Some line hits pay next to nothing. Others pay enormously. And there’s a lot in between.

Must-hit:
Some games I’ll cover have must-hit points. That means a number cannot exceed a certain point, which I’ll clearly define for each game. However, some advantage games are referred to as “uncapped,” which means there is no must-hit point and the numbers could theoretically keep growing and sucking up your money. I explain those in detail too.

Reel/Column:
The words are synonymous, at least for me. If I say “reel two” or “column two,” I mean the second vertical grouping from the left. Many slot machines have five reels in total.

Unit/Bet:
The word “unit” is a little hoyvin-glavin, I’ll admit, but it’s an important one in this business. Unit means the number of bets you win or lose, regardless of the bet size. So if you’re betting $1 and you won $20, you won 20 units. And if you’re betting $50 and you lose $1,000, you lose 20 units. But look at the bright side: At least you’re even on units!

Voucher/TITO/Ticket:
When you put money into a slot machine and cash out, the machine prints out a white piece of paper called a voucher, a.k.a. TITO (ticket in ticket out) or just ticket. When thinking about whether to camp a machine, always look at the voucher the person has, which can be seen directly on the machine itself. This should go without saying, but try not to be extra creepy. If the person is slow-spinning a bigger bet and has a small voucher, it may be worth your time to stick around to see if they get up soon.

Whale/High Roller:
This is what you want to be in the eyes of the casino. A slot high roller comes to the casino with six- and seven-figure bankrolls or credit lines; a whale is the biggest of high rollers and can win or lose enormous figures in a session. The casino cares—or at one point cared—more about how much you’re betting rather than if you’re winning or losing. If you can give off Moby-Dick vibes, the casino will take care of you in other ways.