Volumes have been written on this item, and the controversy and interchanges about where the "hot" video slots are located in a casino are still on-going – over sixty yrs after slot machine games were first added to the gaming floor in gambling dens.
The traditional rule is that the most favorable one armed bandits were put just inside the door of the casino; so that casino fanatics going by would be able to see jackpot winners and be enthralled to come into the casino … play. Our sentiment is that this is not so anymore.
Many of the large casinos presently are super-colossal complexes … it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to situate the ‘loose’ slots close to any doorways.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot machines are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more folks could see winning jackpots and be encouraged to play. Importantly 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 perspective about where to place the loose slot machines.