03.08
Slot Machine Location
Volumes have been stated on this item, and the debates and discourse about where the "hot" slots are placed in the casino are still bubbling – more than 60 years after slot machines were first placed in the casinos.
The standard rule is that the better one armed bandits were positioned just inside the main entrance of the casino; so that folks passing by would see actual jackpot winners … be drawn to come unto the gambling floor … play. Our view is that this is definitely no longer true.
Many of the large casinos presently are monstrous complexes … it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ slots close to any entrances.
Yet another classic rule is that loose slot games are installed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more folks could see winning jackpots and be inspired to play. Nonetheless, we find that this also is not a universal rule any more.
What casinos found over the years is that people walking down the busy aisles were frequently on the way to somewhere else. If they played the slot machines at all, they would simply put in their loose change because they happened to be walking by. Win or lose, they would very often not stop to keep playing. And the last thing a casino wants is for someone to win a jackpot by playing only a few coins and then not stay to put it all back in!
Today, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.