Volumes have been written on this topic, and the disquiet and face-offs about where the "hot" slots are installed in a casino are still taking place – over sixty years after the slot machines were first placed in the casinos.
The traditional rule is that the very best slots were located just inside the door of the casino; so that potential gamblers going by would be able to see actual jackpot winners and be titillated to come inside … play. Our viewpoint is that this is definitely no longer so.
Almost all of the big name casinos nowadays are jumbo complexes and you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ one armed bandits in close proximity to any exits.
An additional classic rule is that loose slot machines are installed 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 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 slot machine games 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 one armed bandits.