12.02
Slot Machine positioning
Volumes have been written on this issue, and the disquiet and discussion about where the "hot" one armed bandits are positioned in a casino are still intense – 60 years after one armed bandits were 1st added to the gaming floor in the casinos.
The traditional rule is that the superior slot machine games were put just inside the main door of the casino; so that potential players passing by would see jackpot winners … be captivated to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our position is that this is no longer true.
Almost all of the big name casinos today are jumbo complexes … now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machine games close to any entrances.
An additional standard rule is that loose slot machines are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more folks could see winning jackpots and be influenced 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 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 perspective about where to place the loose slot games.