Hit

Winning spins on slot machine.

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If you make a bet and spin the reels on a slot machine and win, you call it a "hit". If you make the same wager and lose, it is a naked pull or simply a loss.

The slots hit can be either large or small, so tracking hits can be a bit misleading. For instance, many slots players want to know what a machine's hit frequency or hit rate is. But a winning spin might be a jackpot or a hit that only pays back the price of the original bet (if that), so not all hits are the same.

To learn what the entertainment (or profit) value of a slot machine is, a player needs to compare its hit frequency with its payout percentage. Finding a machine that pays out the highest percentage is most important. If you can find a machine that gives a high number of hits at the same time, this makes playing the machine more entertaining.

Of course, machines with higher paying jackpots tend to have lower hit frequencies, since there have to be trade-offs to make the payout rate work for the casino. Some players dislike playing on machines with a high number of small hits, because it creates the illusion the player is winning something, when the player is actually spinning his or her wheels. Machines with a high hit rate but without many big prizes are sometimes called gimmicky machines.