Volumes have been written on this matter, and the disquiet and ruckus about where the "hot" video slots are installed in a casino are still rampant – more than 60 years after the slots were 1st placed in gambling dens.
The quintessential rule is that the most favorable slot machine games were placed just inside the entrance of the casino; so that people going by would see jackpot winners … be mesmerized enough to come inside … play. Our determination is that this is definitely no longer true.
The great majority of the mega casinos nowadays are immense complexes … now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ slot games close to any exits.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot games are located on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be energized to play. Notably 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 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!
Today, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot machines.