Volumes have been stated on this subject, and the contention and feuds about where the "hot" one armed bandits are placed in the casino are still intense – 60 years after one armed bandits were first added to the gaming floor in casinos.
The traditional rule is that the better one armed bandits were installed just inside the main entrance of the casino; so that fun seekers walking by would see real jackpot winners … be smitten to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our speculation is that this is definitely no longer true.
The majority of the large casinos presently are enormous complexes and now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slot games in close proximity to any entrances.
Another classic rule is that loose slot machine games are located on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more fun seekers could see winning jackpots and be motivated to play. Interestingly 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 slots 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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose slot games.