Volumes have been set forth on this subject, and the debates and feuds about where the "hot" one armed bandits are positioned in the casino are still ongoing – sixty years after one armed bandits were 1st placed in the casinos.
The quintessential rule is that the superior slot machine games were put just inside the door of the casino; so that casino fanatics going by would see actual jackpot winners … be impressed enough to come unto the gambling floor … play. Our attitude is that this is no longer the case.
Just about all of the large casinos these days are oversized complexes and it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ one armed bandits close to any of the doors.
Another traditional rule is that loose slot machine games are placed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more persons 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 perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.