Volumes have been said on this subject, and the debates and feuds about where the "hot" slot machines are located in the casino are still intense – over sixty yrs after slots were first added to the gaming floor in gambling houses.
The traditional rule is that the more favourable one armed bandits were installed just inside the main doorway of the casino; so that people going by would see actual jackpot winners … be stirred to come into the casino and play. Our philosophy is that this is definitely no longer so.
Almost all of the large casinos these days are huge complexes and it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ one armed bandits near any doors.
An additional classic rule is that loose slots are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more folks 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 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 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 perspective about where to place the loose slot machine games.