Volumes have been said on this topic, and the conflict and feuds about where the "hot" one armed bandits are located in the casino are still intense – more than sixty yrs after the slots were 1st placed in the casinos.
The traditional rule is that the most favorable slot machines were positioned just inside the main entryway of the casino; so that folks walking by would see jackpot winners and be enticed to come inside and play. Our assessment is that this is not so anymore.
Nearly all of the big name casinos today are massive complexes and you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ slot machine games close to any entrances.
Yet another standard rule is that loose slot machines are placed on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more fun seekers could see winning jackpots and be influenced 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 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 perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.