Volumes have been stated on this issue, and the controversy and interchanges about where the "hot" slot machines are installed in a casino are still raging – more than sixty yrs after the slots were first placed in gambling houses.
The traditional rule is that the better slot games were installed just inside the main entrance of the casino; so that people walking by would be able to see jackpot winners … be possessed to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our philosophy is that this is no longer true.
The majority of the major casinos today are enormous complexes and you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to situate the ‘loose’ one armed bandits in close proximity to any doorways.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot games are installed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more persons could see winning jackpots and be motivated to play. However, 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 the slot machines 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 one armed bandits.