05.14
Slot Machine positioning
Volumes have been set forth on this item, and the disquiet and face-offs about where the "hot" video slots are positioned in a casino are still bubbling – more than 60 yrs after the slots were first placed in the casinos.
The standard rule is that the superior slot games were located just inside the main door of the casino; so that people passing by would be able to see real jackpot winners … be stirred to come inside … play. Our opinion is that this is no longer true.
The great majority of the major casinos nowadays are magnificent complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot games close-by any doors.
An additional classic rule is that loose slot machines are positioned on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Notably though, 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 one armed bandits 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 slots.