05.13
Slot Machine Location
Books have been written on this item, and the disquiet and squabbling about where the "hot" one armed bandits are placed in the casino are still raging – sixty yrs after slot machines were 1st placed in gambling houses.
The standard rule is that the best slots were installed just inside the main entryway of the casino; so that people walking by would see actual jackpot winners … be keen enough to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our interpretation is that this is definitely no longer true.
Many of the large casinos these days are enormous complexes … now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slot machine games near any entrances or exits.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slots are located on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more folks could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Notably however, 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 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.
