Volumes have been set forth on this issue, and the conflict and interchanges about where the "hot" slots are installed in a casino are still taking place – over 60 yrs after slot machine games were first added to the gaming floor in gambling dens.
The quintessential rule is that the more favourable one armed bandits were put just inside the main entryway of the casino; so that everyone passing by would see actual jackpot winners … be mesmerized enough to come inside … play. Our deduction is that this is no longer the case.
Practically all of the large casinos presently are colossal complexes and now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to situate the ‘loose’ slot machine games close-by any entrances.
Another classic rule is that loose slot machines are placed on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be roused to play. Notably though, we find that this also is no longer a universal rule.
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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot machine games.