Volumes have been written on this subject, and the disquiet and ruckus about where the "hot" slot games are positioned in a casino are still raging – over sixty yrs after slot games were 1st added to the gaming floor in gambling dens.
The classic rule is that the better one armed bandits were installed just inside the door of the casino; so that potential players going by would see actual jackpot winners and be captivated to come into the casino and play. Our philosophy is that this is definitely no longer so.
Just about all of the major casinos these days are immense complexes and it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ one armed bandits near any exits.
An additional standard rule is that loose slots are placed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more fun seekers could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Importantly though, 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!
These days, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot machine games.