Volumes have been said on this topic, and the controversy and arguments about where the "hot" slots are installed in the casino are still raging – sixty years after one armed bandits were first placed in gambling dens.
The quintessential rule is that the best one armed bandits were positioned just inside the door of the casino; so that potential gamblers going by would be able to see jackpot winners … be tempted to come into the casino … play. Our feeling is that this is no longer true.
The majority of the major casinos these days are behemothic complexes and you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slot games near to any doorways.
Yet another traditional rule is that loose slot games are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be inspired to play. Nonetheless, 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 slot machine games 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose one armed bandits.