Volumes have been said on this issue, and the disquiet and squabbling about where the "hot" slot machines are placed in a casino are still ongoing – over 60 years after the slots were 1st added to the gaming floor in the casinos.
The standard rule is that the superior one armed bandits were positioned just inside the entry of the casino; so that people walking by would see jackpot winners and be possessed to come unto the gaming floor and play. Our finding is that this is definitely no longer true.
Practically all of the large casinos these days are colossal complexes and it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ one armed bandits near any entrances or exits.
Yet another standard rule is that loose slot machines are put on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Importantly 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 one armed bandits 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 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot games.