Books have been written on this item, and the debates and discord about where the "hot" one armed bandits are located in the casino are still happening – over 60 yrs after one armed bandits were 1st added to the gaming floor in gambling dens.
The quintessential rule is that the best slot machine games were located just inside the main entryway of the casino; so that casino fanatics walking by would be able to see actual jackpot winners … be titillated to come inside and play. Our frame of mind is that this is no longer the case.
Many of the major casinos nowadays are grand complexes and it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slot machine games near to any entrances or exits.
Yet another standard rule is that loose slot machine games are placed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be energized to play. Notably 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!
These days, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.