Hot slots next to the food line

Dear Mark, Do casinos have a master plan for placing machines in key spots or are they just randomly placed? For example, do slots near a buffet pay better? They seem to get a lot of play. Sarah D.
A great cork-popping question, Sarah!
Now, repeat after me: Nothing in a casino is randomly placed; there is no tried and true area for the "hot slots."
All slot managers handle the placement of their machines on the casino floor differently - each according to the dictates of his own theory. I have never met two casino executives in total agreement on their slot mix. For example, some will put loose slots close to the buffet, so once the patron licks the ketchup off his mustache, he can't wait to get back among those happy whoops and squeals of the newly rich - and the manager makes that a very short path.
And some do just the opposite, wanting to grab every penny off every customer waiting in line, reasoning that after their feeding frenzy they'll just stumble unprofitably to their rooms for a snooze.
Held to each individual slot manager's secret criteria, every slot machine needs to produce its weight in gold to hold its placement in the slot lineup. Otherwise, they're P45'ed. Far more frequently than are the managers.