Slot Machine positioning
Books have been set forth on this issue, and the disquiet and squabbling about where the "hot" slot machine games are located in a casino are still happening – sixty years after the slots were 1st placed in casinos.
The quintessential rule is that the more favourable slot machine games were installed just inside the entry of the casino; so that individuals passing by would be able to see actual jackpot winners and be keen enough to come unto the gambling floor … play. Our point of view is that this is no longer the case.
The great majority of the large casinos presently are mammoth complexes … it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ one armed bandits in close proximity to any exits.
An additional classic rule is that loose slot machines are put on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more folks could see winning jackpots and be roused 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 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 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 one armed bandits.