04.12
Slot Machine Location
Volumes have been said on this subject, and the bickering and interchanges about where the "hot" slot machines are positioned in the casino are still intense – over sixty years after slot games were first placed in gambling houses.
The classic rule is that the best slots were installed just inside the entry of the casino; so that individuals walking by would see jackpot winners … be stimulated to come into the casino … play. Our assessment is that this is not so anymore.
Most of the major casinos presently are titanic complexes and it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slots in close proximity to any exits.
An additional classic rule is that loose slots are positioned on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be inspired 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 the 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose one armed bandits.