Books have been said on this item, and the disquiet and interchanges about where the "hot" slot machine games are located in a casino are still happening – more than 60 years after slot games were first added to the gaming floor in gambling dens.
The traditional rule is that the more favourable one armed bandits were installed just inside the main entrance of the casino; so that people going by would see jackpot winners … be titillated to come unto the gambling floor … play. Our presumption is that this is definitely no longer the case.
Just about all of the major casinos presently are massive complexes … it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machines close-by any of the doors.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot machines are positioned on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be influenced 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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose one armed bandits.