Volumes have been said on this matter, and the conflict and squabbling about where the "hot" slot machines are located in the casino are still taking place – 60 years after slots were 1st installed in casinos.
The quintessential rule is that the most favorable one armed bandits were put just inside the main door of the casino; so that individuals passing by would be able to see actual jackpot winners and be possessed to come inside and play. Our view is that this is definitely no longer true.
The great majority of the big name casinos presently are oversized complexes … it is not 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 doorways.
An additional standard rule is that loose slot machines are installed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. 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 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 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 perspective about where to place the loose slots.