Volumes have been written on this item, and the controversy and ruckus about where the "hot" one armed bandits are placed in a casino are still raging – over 60 years after slot games were first placed in gambling houses.
The traditional rule is that the most favorable slots were positioned just inside the main entrance of the casino; so that persons passing by would be able to see actual jackpot winners and be titillated to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our speculation is that this is definitely no longer so.
Just about all of the big name casinos these days are gigantic complexes and it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slot machines near to any doors.
An additional standard rule is that loose slot games are positioned on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers 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 the slots 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 perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.
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