Books have been written on this item, and the controversy and interchanges about where the "hot" slot machine games are located in a casino are still there – over sixty yrs after slot machine games were first added to the gaming floor in casinos.
The quintessential rule is that the better slot games were located just inside the entrance of the casino; so that potential gamblers going by would see jackpot winners … be challenged to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our resolution is that this is no longer true.
Almost all of the major casinos nowadays are behemothic complexes and it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ one armed bandits in close proximity to any doors.
Yet another classic rule is that loose slot games are positioned on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be motivated to play. Interestingly 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 the slot machines 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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose slot games.