Books have been set forth on this issue, and the debates and discourse about where the "hot" slot machines are positioned in a casino are still happening – more than sixty yrs after the slots were first placed in casinos.
The quintessential rule is that the more favourable slot machines were put just inside the main door of the casino; so that fun seekers passing by would be able to see jackpot winners … be enticed to come into the casino … play. Our frame of mind is that this is definitely no longer so.
Practically all of the big name casinos nowadays are magnificent complexes … it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ slot machines in close proximity to any entrances.
An additional classic rule is that loose slots are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be roused to play. Notably however, we find that this also is not 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 very 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 one armed bandits.
