Volumes have been said on this topic, and the debates and feuds about where the "hot" video slots are positioned in a casino are still intense – over sixty years after slots were first added to the gaming floor in gambling houses.
The standard rule is that the superior one armed bandits were placed just inside the main foyer of the casino; so that potential gamblers passing by would be able to see actual jackpot winners … be impressed enough to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our view is that this is not so anymore.
The great majority of the large casinos these days are humongous complexes and it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ one armed bandits near any doorways.
Another classic rule is that loose slot machine games are installed on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be encouraged to play. However, 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 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 slot games.