05.06
Slot Machine positioning
Books have been set forth on this topic, and the debates and face-offs about where the "hot" slots are installed in the casino are still rampant – 60 years after slot machine games were first installed in the casinos.
The traditional rule is that the most favorable slot machines were put just inside the door of the casino; so that potential gamblers going by would see jackpot winners … be smitten to come inside and play. Our thought is that this is no longer the case.
The majority of the major casinos presently are giant complexes … it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot games in close proximity to any of the doors.
An additional classic rule is that loose slots are put on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Nonetheless, 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 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 perspective about where to place the loose slot games.