Volumes have been written on this item, and the controversy and interchanges about where the "hot" slots are located in the casino are still happening – more than 60 years after the slots were first installed in casinos.

The standard rule is that the superior slot games were put just inside the main foyer of the casino; so that people walking by would be able to see real jackpot winners … be challenged to come inside … play. Our sneaking suspicion is that this is definitely no longer so.

Most of the big name casinos presently are grand complexes … it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slot machine games in close proximity to any exits.

Another traditional rule is that loose slot games are placed on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Importantly however, 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 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!

Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot machine games.