Slot Machine Location
Volumes have been written on this matter, and the bickering and squabbling about where the "hot" one armed bandits are installed in a casino are still raging – sixty years after slot machine games were first placed in casinos.
The traditional rule is that the more favourable slot games were put just inside the main doorway of the casino; so that casino fanatics walking by would see jackpot winners … be intrigued enough to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our finding is that this is definitely no longer so.
Practically all of the major casinos nowadays are massive complexes and you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ one armed bandits near any of the doors.
Another classic rule is that loose slots are located on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be motivated to play. Importantly however, 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 slots 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!
Today, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.