Volumes have been written on this subject, and the conflict and ruckus about where the "hot" one armed bandits are placed in a casino are still on-going – over sixty yrs after one armed bandits were first placed in gambling houses.
The classic rule is that the very best one armed bandits were put just inside the main doorway of the casino; so that everyone walking by would be able to see actual jackpot winners … be attracted to come into the casino and play. Our estimation is that this is no longer the case.
Nearly all of the mega casinos nowadays are humongous complexes … you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machines close-by any exits.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot machine games are put on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Importantly however, 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 the slots 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 philosophy about where to place the loose one armed bandits.
