Lemon slot machine symbol

What the lemon slot machine symbol is for

A lemon on a slot reel is a low-value paying symbol. Line up enough of them, in whatever way the game counts wins, and it pays a small prize from the paytable. Because the prize is small, the game can afford to let lemons land often. That makes the lemon a classic low-pay symbol: it supplies frequent returns while the rarer sevens, bells and specials carry the bigger prizes.

It belongs to the oldest group of fruit icons, alongside the cherry, the orange and the plum. Our symbols hub sets out where each one usually ranks.

How the lemon got onto slot reels

The earliest reels had no fruit at all: Charles Fey's Liberty Bell showed a bell, a horseshoe and three card suits. Lemons came later, with gum. The Wikipedia history of the slot machine (opens in a new tab) explains that Mills offered the Operator Bell with a gum dispenser, and since the gum tasted of fruit, the reels were redrawn with lemons alongside cherries, oranges and plums. The gum stick itself, pictured on the machine, is credited as the origin of the BAR.

That symbol set proved popular and was taken up by other makers, which is how the lemon became standard. The sources we checked don't give a confirmed year for the Operator Bell, so be wary of anyone quoting a precise one. Our history of fruit symbols and the Liberty Bell page have the documented timeline, including where accounts disagree.

Did the lemon symbol give us 'a lemon' for a dud?

It's a widely repeated story: lemons paid nothing on early machines, so 'a lemon' came to mean something worthless, like a faulty car. We haven't found a documented source that proves the slot machine was the origin of that slang, and the sources we checked on slot history don't make the claim. Treat it as an appealing theory rather than a fact.

What is true is that on many modern games the lemon is among the least valuable symbols, which makes the story feel right even if its history is unproven.

Why a lemon slot machine symbol pays so little

A slot's long-run return is the sum of every prize multiplied by how often it happens. Low-pay symbols such as the lemon contribute through frequency: lots of small returns. That shapes a game's hit frequency and its volatility. A game packed with lemons and cherries paying small amounts feels steadier than one that saves its return for rare big hits.

Here's an illustrative example. A 20-line game is played at 20p a spin, so each line costs 1p. Three lemons on one line pay 5× the line bet: 5p. The balance moves, but you have still lost 15p on that spin.

Lemon wins and the UK rule on losses disguised as wins

Small returns like those lemon lines are what the Gambling Commission had in mind with its rule against losses disguised as wins. From 31 October 2021, online slots in Britain have been barred from greeting a return of the stake or less with celebratory sounds or graphics. The wording is in RTS 14 on responsible product design (opens in a new tab).

The same rules require the game to show your balance and net position, removed autoplay, and set a minimum of 2.5 seconds per spin. Our page on slot game design rules covers the whole set.

1. Note your total stake before the spin.
2. When lemons land, read the amount paid, not the size of the animation.
3. Subtract the stake: anything below zero is a net loss, however it looks.
4. Check the net position display, which UK games must show, to see where the session stands.

Lemons on UK online slots

Lemons turn up mostly on fruit-themed games. Published descriptions of these three include them:

On Fire Joker the lemon lines pay on a 3 × 3 grid with five lines; on Sizzling Hot Deluxe it sits in the lower fruit band; on Fruit Party it needs a cluster of five or more touching symbols. Values vary, so open the help screen.

Lemons on pub fruit machines

British fruit machines keep lemons on their reels as part of the traditional look, but the money usually sits in features such as nudges and feature boards. Pub machines fall into Category C in the Gambling Commission's machine categories (opens in a new tab): £1 maximum stake, £100 maximum prize, 18+ only. A lemon held on a hold button doesn't make a win more likely in the long run; the machine's percentage is fixed by its design.

Lemon symbol myths and facts

Where to play lemon-filled fruit slots

Three welcome deals from our partners are shown below; you must be 18+ and new to the casino, and terms apply. Coral turns a £10 slots bet into 100 free spins at 10p, usable on selected games for seven days, and attaches no wagering to what they win. Ladbrokes releases 50 free spins each day for ten days (500 at most) once £10 has gone through its slots, again at 10p and wager-free. PlayOJO credits 80 free spins on Big Bass Bonanza after a first deposit of £10, with no wagering; it's open to UK customers outside Northern Ireland. None is tied to a lemon-heavy fruit slot, and line-ups shift, so search for your game first. Read more on our casinos page.

Treat any session as paid entertainment and decide your limit first; the safer gambling page lists free help.

18+. Gambling should be entertainment that costs money, not a way to make it. Decide a budget before you play: plan a slot budget. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.