Books have been stated on this subject, and the bickering and face-offs about where the "hot" one armed bandits are installed in the casino are still happening – over sixty years after slots were 1st placed in casinos.
The standard rule is that the more favourable one armed bandits were placed just inside the main doorway of the casino; so that casino fanatics going by would be able to see real jackpot winners and be impressed enough to come into the casino and play. Our inclination is that this is no longer true.
Practically all of the large casinos nowadays are massive complexes … it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ slot machines close to any entrances.
Yet another classic rule is that loose slots are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more folks could see winning jackpots and be roused to play. Interestingly 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 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 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!
Today, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose one armed bandits.