10.16
Slot Machine positioning
Books have been set forth on this topic, and the conflict and discord about where the "hot" video slots are located in the casino are still passionate – sixty years after slot games were first placed in gambling houses.
The standard rule is that the very best slots were located just inside the entrance of the casino; so that potential players passing by would see jackpot winners … be titillated to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our conclusion is that this is not so anymore.
Just about all of the big name casinos these days are magnificent complexes … now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slots close to any doorways.
Another classic rule is that loose slot machine games are installed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more folks could see winning jackpots and be inspired to play. Notably though, 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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot machine games.