Volumes have been said on this subject, and the contention and interchanges about where the "hot" slot machine games are positioned in the casino are still intense – 60 years after slot machine games were first placed in gambling houses.
The quintessential rule is that the most favorable slot machines were put just inside the entrance of the casino; so that potential gamblers walking by would be able to see actual jackpot winners and be tempted to come inside and play. Our speculation is that this is definitely no longer true.
Most of the big name casinos presently are super-colossal complexes and it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ one armed bandits in close proximity to any entrances.
Yet another classic rule is that loose slot machines are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more persons could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Importantly however, we find that this also is not 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 slot machine games 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 slots.