Books have been written on this issue, and the debates and feuds about where the "hot" one armed bandits are placed in a casino are still there – sixty years after slot machines were first added to the gaming floor in the casinos.
The quintessential rule is that the very best slots were located just inside the entrance of the casino; so that individuals going by would see jackpot winners and be smitten to come unto the gaming floor … play. Our conclusion is that this is definitely no longer true.
Just about all of the big name casinos these days are giant complexes … now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slot machines near to any of the doors.
Another classic rule is that loose slots are placed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Interestingly though, 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 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.