Books have been written on this item, and the contention and discord about where the "hot" slots are placed in the casino are still happening – more than sixty years after slot games were first installed in casinos.
The classic rule is that the best slot games were positioned just inside the entrance of the casino; so that everyone going by would be able to see real jackpot winners … be stimulated to come into the casino and play. Our theorem is that this is definitely no longer so.
Just about all of the mega casinos presently are humongous complexes … you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to situate the ‘loose’ one armed bandits close to any exits.
Yet another standard rule is that loose one armed bandits are installed on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more folks could see winning jackpots and be inspired to play. Interestingly though, 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!
Today, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.