04.30
Slot Machine positioning
Volumes have been written on this item, and the controversy and ruckus about where the "hot" slot machine games are positioned in a casino are still taking place – sixty yrs after slot games were 1st placed in the casinos.
The standard rule is that the most favorable slot games were positioned just inside the main entrance of the casino; so that everyone passing by would be able to see real jackpot winners and be titillated to come into the casino … play. Our view is that this is not so anymore.
Many of the big name casinos presently are massive complexes and you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slots close-by any doorways.
Yet another traditional rule is that loose slot machine games are placed on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more fun seekers could see winning jackpots and be roused to play. Notably however, 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 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 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 philosophy about where to place the loose slot machines.