If you’re a regular visitor to a casino, you’ll inevitably notice machines in different spots where they were before. A player wonders what the reasoning behind this is:
Why do they move machines around? Sometimes I have to walk all over to find my favorite!
Trudy
There can be multiple reasons for this. Here’s some examples.
An Existing Slot’s Performance Has Changed
Because of the way traffic flows within a casino, some areas of the floor will generate more traffic, and more play, than other places. Over time, a game’s performance may change, for instance sliding below the performance of other machines in that area, or perhaps new machines have overtaken the play level of a bank that’s been there for a while.
If a game is still performing well overall, a casino will move it rather than remove it altogether. In those cases they may swap out machines that are leaving the floor, while making room for the new bank where they previously lived.
A Game is Popular and Players Will Look For It
There are some slots that consistently draw players who look for them (Dragon Link is the quintessential example) and some casinos will use this to their advantage. In some cases, instead of putting them front and center, they’ll put them deeper into a casino, encouraging players to walk by other slots along the way.
The hope is maybe players, while on the hunt for Dragon Link, might spot other slots they wish to give a try, and hopefully capture a bit more revenue in the process. Or at the very least, it can help lift the performance of a quieter part of the casino floor.
Making Room for the Shiny and New
Often slots get moved to make room for a bank of entirely new slots. It doesn’t always make sense to put the new slots right where the previous slots being completely removed were located. This can be in part because of some of the reasons shared above – if those slots were in a quieter part of the floor that less players visit, it may not help get the new slots visibility.
So rotating slots around the floor in the process is a relatively easy way to solve for this. In the process, it gives a visual indicator to players that updates have occurred.
The Slot is Being Leased from the Manufacturer
If a slot is leased as opposed to being bought, location can be important to ensuring they get seen and played more, since there’s an ongoing fee to have it on the floor. This is especially the case as the percentage of slots being leased vs. bought has been shifting a bit more in the direction of leased over time.
Can’t Find a Slot? Use a Slot Finder or Ask a Tech
If your favorite game has gone missing in its common location, two tips can help you find your way to it if it’s still on the floor.
The first is to use a slot finder, if the casino or manufacturer of the game you like has one. This can help you confirm a casino still has the game on its floor, and in some cases help you find where on the floor it’s moved.
The second is to ask a slot tech – since they are working with the machines regularly to reload TITO ticket paper or pay out jackpots, they tend to have a good idea if the slot is still around and can generally point you in the right direction.
Takeaway
As a business, casinos will often make adjustments to keep up with player activity and ensure the casino floor continues to feel fresh. Part of that is how they manage placement of slots, and sometimes that means your favorite slot will find a new home on the casino floor.
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