Books have been set forth on this topic, and the controversy and face-offs about where the "hot" one armed bandits are positioned in the casino are still intense – more than 60 years after slot machine games were 1st placed in gambling dens.
The classic rule is that the superior slot machines were located just inside the entrance of the casino; so that folks going by would see jackpot winners … be titillated to come inside and play. Our theory is that this is definitely no longer so.
Most of the mega casinos presently are titanic complexes and you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slots near to any entrances or exits.
An additional classic rule is that loose slot machines are located on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be energized to play. Nonetheless, 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 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 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose one armed bandits.