Slot Machine positioning

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Volumes have been written on this topic, and the controversy and disagreement about where the "hot" one armed bandits are positioned in a casino are still raging – more than 60 years after slot machine games were first placed in casinos.

The traditional rule is that the very best one armed bandits were located just inside the entry of the casino; so that fun seekers going by would be able to see actual jackpot winners and be influenced to come into the casino and play. Our theorem is that this is definitely no longer the case.

The great majority of the big name casinos these days are gigantic complexes and you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ one armed bandits near any exits.

Yet another traditional rule is that loose one armed bandits are positioned on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be inspired to play. Interestingly though, 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!

Today, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot games.