Books have been written on this issue, and the debates and feuds about where the "hot" one armed bandits are placed in the casino are still ongoing – more than sixty yrs after the slots were 1st added to the gaming floor in the casinos.
The quintessential rule is that the better slot machine games were put just inside the door of the casino; so that potential gamblers going by would be able to see actual jackpot winners … be mesmerized enough to come inside and play. Our leaning is that this is no longer the case.
The great majority of the large casinos presently are mammoth complexes and it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machine games close-by any entrances.
Another classic rule is that loose slot machine games are located on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more folks could see winning jackpots and be energized 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 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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose one armed bandits.