Books have been set forth on this topic, and the debates and disharmony about where the "hot" one armed bandits are placed in the casino are still there – 60 years after one armed bandits were 1st installed in gambling dens.
The traditional rule is that the best one armed bandits were placed just inside the entrance of the casino; so that potential gamblers walking by would see actual jackpot winners … be convinced to come into the casino and play. Our philosophy is that this is no longer the case.
Almost all of the big name casinos presently are giant complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slot machine games in close proximity to any doors.
Another traditional rule is that loose slot machines are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Interestingly though, 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!
These days, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose one armed bandits.