09.30
Slot Machine Location
Books have been written on this item, and the bickering and ruckus about where the "hot" slot games are installed in the casino are still raging – more than 60 yrs after the slot machines were first placed in gambling houses.
The traditional rule is that the most favorable slot machine games were located just inside the door of the casino; so that potential gamblers walking by would see actual jackpot winners and be stirred to come unto the gambling floor … play. Our assessment is that this is no longer the case.
Almost all of the mega casinos today are massive complexes … now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machines in close proximity to any doors.
Another standard rule is that loose one armed bandits are positioned on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Notably though, we find that this also isn’t 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 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 perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.