10.10
Slot Machine positioning
Books have been written on this topic, and the debates and discourse about where the "hot" slot machines are positioned in a casino are still taking place – more than 60 yrs after the slot machines were first placed in the casinos.
The traditional rule is that the best slot machine games were put just inside the entrance of the casino; so that persons going by would be able to see jackpot winners … be challenged to come unto the gaming floor … play. Our philosophy is that this is no longer true.
Just about all of the big name casinos today are immense complexes … now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slot games in close proximity to any entrances.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot games are placed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Nonetheless, we find that this also isn’t 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 slots 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 philosophy about where to place the loose slot machines.
