09.17
Slot Machine positioning
Books have been set forth on this issue, and the contention and discord about where the "hot" slot games are installed in the casino are still happening – more than 60 years after slot machines were first added to the gaming floor in gambling houses.
The quintessential rule is that the very best one armed bandits were placed just inside the main entryway of the casino; so that potential players passing by would see real jackpot winners … be stimulated to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our point of view is that this is no longer true.
Most of the big name casinos nowadays are mammoth complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machine games near any entrances.
Yet another classic rule is that loose slot machines are installed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more persons could see winning jackpots and be motivated to play. Importantly however, 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 slot machine games 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 very 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!
These days, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.