Norman, you are using removed machines to support a single reason theory and it just defies reason and logic. There are many reasons I'm aware of. Collectors are a large part of the business, but not the only part. We are far less important to most casinos than the casual playee. The exception, of course, is those casinos that target collectors for exploitation by constantly making low numbers.
How do you reconcile the fact that McCarran Airport has 12 strike machines with your theory? Most of us can't even get into the secure terminals to play, so I know it isn't the collector supporting that franchise. Who is keeping the California Club machines spitting out strikes? When is the last time you had a request for an Island from there?

A lot of tourist traffic at McCarran. Why would they remove their machine. Money, Money, money. California keeps about 20 different strikes in play.

Did you know that Riverside (Laughlin)removed their machine because the slot director at the time thought he had to order the tokens too often? Don't you think some casinos don't understand the program or want to be bothered?

Probably ordered 50 at a time. I doubt very much if this casino would remove their machine if it was making good money.

Luxor told me that they removed their machines for incompatability with their player tracking system, which also tracks the hold. They also had problems keeping their fills straight and the machines from jamming.

I will agree with this. They got good play and I was shocked when they removed their machines.

I'm sure the locals casinos have trouble sustaining play because they don't have enough of a base to make the strikes walk, which is the highest profit. Most don't change their designs often enough to warrant frequent play. Many have unimaginative designs like Boulder Station's last series. Suncoast had problems with their fills because the machine was out of the way and the new strikes had to come from the cage. When they tried filling with returned strikes from a change booth, we couldn't get Pentagons and Twin Towers and raised heck.

I doubt if the Suncoast got much play. Too far from tourist traffic. Boulder Station probably comes under the single bullet theory.

Some places have simply had enough of the quarrelsome collector.

Bull dung. Not if they are making good money. Let them quarrel I doubt if the Four Queens will remove theirs anytime soon.

I was told that Hard Rock removed their machines because of maintenance problems.

Possible. Another surprise to me that they removed their machine.

MGM removed theirs when the licensing agreements with the James Dean and Marilyn Monroe estates expired; there had previously been an earlier strike problem when Michael Crawford unexpectedly split from EFX. MGM tried to reorder a strike machine within days of the Four Queens snagging the last one.
The 1750 number isn't magic. It is an economic reality: the lowest number which allows IGT to amortize the cost of die production. Take a walk over to Ballys and ask how many strikes (yes, even Slingos) a month they go through. After you pick a number, I'll take the overs.

Money, money , money. They have had problems with their machines and they are still there.

Can you tell me how many collectors are responsible for the approximately 500 $200 strikes issued annually by Imperial Palace?

Approxiamately 500 less those who got multiples. They get a lot of play from walk by traffic. Money, money, money. They probably will be around for a while.

A wise man once told me that we are here in the USA today because of rotten meat, and he was 100% correct. After all, there was no refrigeration in Europe in 1492 so Columbus went looking for spices to make the rotten meat taste better. You can fill in the rest.

My foot looks like rotten meat.

Sorry Norman, but your single bullet theory doesn't fly.

Dennis, you still have these casinos to explain!

Circus Circus (extinct)
Excalibur (extinct)
Fiesta (extinct)
Fitzgerald’s (extinct)
Fremont (extinct)
Golden Gate (extinct)
Harrah’s LV (extinct)
Horseshoe (extinct)
Mandalay Bay (extinct)
Opera House (extinct)
Palace Station (extinct)
Rio (extinct)
Riviera (extinct)
Silver Nugget (extinct)
Stardust (extinct)
Tropicana (extinct)