04.03
Slot Machine positioning
Books have been written on this issue, and the disquiet and disagreement about where the "hot" slot machine games are placed in the casino are still there – over sixty years after slots were first placed in gambling dens.
The classic rule is that the very best slots were installed just inside the main entrance of the casino; so that potential players going by would see real jackpot winners … be stimulated to come unto the gaming floor … play. Our thought is that this is definitely no longer true.
Practically all of the big name casinos these days are jumbo complexes … it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ one armed bandits near any entrances.
Yet another standard rule is that loose slots are put on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more fun seekers could see winning jackpots and be inspired to play. Importantly though, we find that this also is no longer a universal rule.
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 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 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 slot machine games.