Books have been set forth on this topic, and the bickering and discord about where the "hot" one armed bandits are installed in the casino are still bubbling – over 60 yrs after slot machine games were first added to the gaming floor in casinos.

The quintessential rule is that the best one armed bandits were positioned just inside the door of the casino; so that individuals passing by would see real jackpot winners … be convinced to come inside … play. Our finding is that this is no longer the case.

Most of the mega casinos presently are grand complexes and you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slot machines near any of the doors.

Another classic rule is that loose slots are put on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be motivated to play. Nonetheless, 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 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!

Today, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slots.