Volumes have been stated on this item, and the conflict and disharmony about where the "hot" one armed bandits are installed in the casino are still bubbling – more than sixty years after the slot machines were 1st placed in gambling dens.
The standard rule is that the superior slot machine games were located just inside the entrance of the casino; so that potential gamblers going by would see actual jackpot winners … be baited to come into the casino … play. Our perspective is that this is not so anymore.
Most of the mega casinos today are oversized complexes and it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot games in close proximity to any doors.
An additional standard rule is that loose slot machines are positioned on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more fun seekers could see winning jackpots and be encouraged to play. Notably 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 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose slot machines.