Volumes have been written on this item, and the controversy and squabbling about where the "hot" slots are located in the casino are still intense – over 60 years after the slot machines were first installed in casinos.
The classic rule is that the very best slot games were put just inside the main doorway of the casino; so that individuals walking by would be able to see real jackpot winners … be mesmerized enough to come into the casino … play. Our resolution is that this is not so anymore.
The great majority of the mega casinos today are massive complexes and now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot games near any of the doors.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot machines are installed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more persons could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Nonetheless, we find that this also isn’t 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 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.