Books have been written on this topic, and the debates and face-offs about where the "hot" slot machines are positioned in the casino are still ongoing – more than 60 years after slot machine games were first added to the gaming floor in the casinos.
The traditional rule is that the superior slot machines were placed just inside the main door of the casino; so that individuals walking by would see actual jackpot winners … be titillated to come inside and play. Our persuasion is that this is no longer true.
The majority of the major casinos today are magnificent complexes … now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slots near any of the doors.
An additional traditional rule is that loose one armed bandits are installed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be motivated to play. Interestingly 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 slots 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 perspective about where to place the loose slot machines.