Books have been set forth on this topic, and the contention and discord about where the "hot" slot machines are placed in a casino are still there – more than sixty years after slot machine games were first added to the gaming floor in the casinos.
The standard rule is that the best one armed bandits were installed just inside the main entryway of the casino; so that potential players passing by would be able to see real jackpot winners … be aroused to come unto the gaming floor and play. Our theory is that this is definitely no longer the case.
Most of the mega casinos presently are grand complexes … it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot games near any entrances.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot machine games are placed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more fun seekers could see winning jackpots and be roused to play. Importantly however, 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 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 slot machines.