Slot Machine positioning
Books have been said on this topic, and the debates and interchanges about where the "hot" slot machines are installed in the casino are still happening – more than sixty years after slot games were first placed in gambling dens.
The quintessential rule is that the more favourable one armed bandits were placed just inside the door of the casino; so that people walking by would be able to see real jackpot winners and be stirred to come unto the gaming floor and play. Our sentiment is that this is definitely no longer so.
Just about all of the big name casinos today are giant complexes … it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slots close-by any entrances or exits.
Another standard rule is that loose slot games are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more persons could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Importantly 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 slot machine 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 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!
These days, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot games.