10.15
Slot Machine positioning
Volumes have been said on this matter, and the conflict and squabbling about where the "hot" slot machines are installed in a casino are still raging – more than 60 years after slots were first installed in gambling houses.
The quintessential rule is that the very best slot machines were positioned just inside the main entryway of the casino; so that potential players going by would see jackpot winners and be infatuated enough to come into the casino and play. Our sneaking suspicion is that this is no longer the case.
The great majority of the mega casinos presently are behemothic complexes … it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slots near to any of the doors.
An additional classic rule is that loose slots are positioned on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be energized to play. Nonetheless, 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 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 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot machines.