Books have been written on this topic, and the contention and arguments about where the "hot" slot games are located in a casino are still raging – over 60 years after slot games were 1st added to the gaming floor in gambling dens.
The quintessential rule is that the more favourable slot machine games were positioned just inside the main doorway of the casino; so that casino fanatics passing by would be able to see real jackpot winners … be aroused to come into the casino and play. Our frame of mind is that this is definitely no longer the case.
The great majority of the major casinos nowadays are humongous complexes … you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ one armed bandits in close proximity to any entrances or exits.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot machine games are positioned on the major aisles in 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 one armed bandits 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 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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot games.