Books have been set forth on this issue, and the controversy and squabbling about where the "hot" slots are placed in the casino are still ongoing – sixty years after slot machine games were first installed in gambling dens.
The standard rule is that the superior slot machines were put just inside the main door of the casino; so that folks passing by would be able to see real jackpot winners and be possessed to come unto the gaming floor … play. Our sneaking suspicion is that this is not so anymore.
Nearly all of the mega casinos these days are colossal complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slot machine games near any doorways.
Yet another traditional rule is that loose slot machine games are put on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Importantly 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 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!
Today, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot machine games.
