10.14
Slot Machine Location
Books have been set forth on this topic, and the bickering and squabbling about where the "hot" video slots are positioned in a casino are still rampant – over sixty years after slot machine games were 1st installed in the casinos.
The traditional rule is that the superior one armed bandits were placed just inside the main doorway of the casino; so that potential players going by would see real jackpot winners and be convinced to come inside … play. Our determination is that this is definitely no longer true.
Nearly all of the mega casinos presently are jumbo complexes … you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slot games near any exits.
Another classic rule is that loose slot machines are positioned on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more persons could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Importantly though, 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 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 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!
Today, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose one armed bandits.
