Books have been set forth on this topic, and the conflict and disharmony about where the "hot" slots are placed in a casino are still rampant – more than 60 years after slot machines were first added to the gaming floor in gambling dens.
The traditional rule is that the superior slot games were put just inside the main entry of the casino; so that fun seekers passing by would be able to see actual jackpot winners … be attracted to come into the casino and play. Our reckoning is that this is no longer the case.
Practically all of the major casinos these days are immense complexes … you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ one armed bandits near to any doorways.
Another standard rule is that loose one armed bandits are installed on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Nonetheless, we find that this also isn’t 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 the slots 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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot games.