Volumes have been stated on this matter, and the conflict and discord about where the "hot" one armed bandits are placed in the casino are still happening – over sixty years after slots were 1st installed in gambling houses.
The quintessential rule is that the best one armed bandits were placed just inside the main entrance of the casino; so that folks going by would see actual jackpot winners and be tempted to come unto the gaming floor and play. Our belief is that this is definitely no longer true.
Nearly all of the big name casinos presently are behemothic complexes and now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ one armed bandits near to any doorways.
Another classic rule is that loose one armed bandits are located on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be roused to play. Importantly however, we find that this also is no longer a universal rule.
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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose slot machine games.