Books have been said on this item, and the conflict and discussion about where the "hot" slot games are placed in a casino are still taking place – sixty years after slots were first added to the gaming floor in gambling dens.
The traditional rule is that the superior slot machines were located just inside the main entry of the casino; so that folks walking by would see jackpot winners and be impressed enough to come inside … play. Our persuasion is that this is definitely no longer true.
Practically all of the large casinos today are enormous complexes … you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slot machines close to any exits.
Yet another standard rule is that loose slots are installed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be inspired to play. Importantly 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 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 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.