Slot Machine positioning
Books have been said on this topic, and the controversy and interchanges about where the "hot" one armed bandits are installed in a casino are still happening – over sixty yrs after slot machine games were first added to the gaming floor in gambling houses.
The traditional rule is that the more favourable slots were located just inside the main entrance of the casino; so that people walking by would be able to see actual jackpot winners … be enticed to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our assessment is that this is no longer true.
Nearly all of the major casinos today are grand complexes and it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ one armed bandits near any exits.
Yet another classic rule is that loose one armed bandits are placed 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 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 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 perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.