Volumes have been said on this subject, and the conflict and disagreement about where the "hot" slots are installed in a casino are still bubbling – more than 60 yrs after slot games were first placed in casinos.
The quintessential rule is that the more favourable slot machines were placed just inside the main doorway of the casino; so that folks going by would be able to see jackpot winners … be baited to come inside … play. Our perspective is that this is definitely no longer true.
Many of the big name casinos nowadays are herculean complexes and now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slots close-by any exits.
Another standard rule is that loose slot machine games are placed on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more persons could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Interestingly 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 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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose slot machines.