Books have been set forth on this item, and the controversy and disagreement about where the "hot" video slots are positioned in a casino are still there – more than 60 years after slots were first added to the gaming floor in gambling houses.
The quintessential rule is that the most favorable slot games were located just inside the main foyer of the casino; so that everyone passing by would be able to see jackpot winners and be tempted to come unto the gambling floor … play. Our presumption is that this is no longer the case.
The majority of the mega casinos these days are oversized complexes … you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machine games in close proximity to any exits.
An additional classic 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 encouraged to play. Notably 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 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 machines.