Volumes have been written on this topic, and the bickering and face-offs about where the "hot" video slots are installed in the casino are still happening – sixty years after one armed bandits were first added to the gaming floor in gambling dens.
The standard rule is that the best slot machines were placed just inside the entrance of the casino; so that people passing by would see real jackpot winners … be enticed to come into the casino and play. Our presumption is that this is no longer true.
Many of the major casinos nowadays are behemothic complexes and it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ one armed bandits in close proximity to any entrances.
Yet another standard rule is that loose slots are positioned on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Notably however, we find that this also is no longer a universal rule.
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 slot games 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!
Today, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.