Slot Machine positioning
Books have been written on this issue, and the contention and disharmony about where the "hot" slot machine games are located in the casino are still raging – more than sixty yrs after the slot machines were first placed in gambling houses.
The classic rule is that the most favorable slot games were installed just inside the main door of the casino; so that folks walking by would see real jackpot winners and be enthralled to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our speculation is that this is not so anymore.
Just about all of the large casinos nowadays are magnificent complexes … it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ slot machine games close-by any entrances or exits.
Another traditional rule is that loose one armed bandits are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Nonetheless, 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 the slot machines 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 one armed bandits.