Books have been stated on this item, and the conflict and discord about where the "hot" one armed bandits are positioned in the casino are still there – 60 yrs after one armed bandits were 1st added to the gaming floor in the casinos.
The traditional rule is that the better one armed bandits were placed just inside the main entry of the casino; so that folks walking by would be able to see actual jackpot winners … be stirred to come inside and play. Our leaning is that this is definitely no longer the case.
Nearly all of the large casinos these days are oversized complexes and now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to situate the ‘loose’ slot machines in close proximity to any exits.
Another classic rule is that loose slot machines are positioned on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be encouraged to play. However, 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 the slot machines 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 philosophy about where to place the loose slot games.