Volumes have been written on this subject, and the controversy and disagreement about where the "hot" slot machine games are positioned in the casino are still taking place – sixty yrs after the slot machines were first added to the gaming floor in gambling houses.
The standard rule is that the better slot machine games were placed just inside the main foyer of the casino; so that potential players walking by would be able to see jackpot winners and be smitten to come inside … play. Our sentiment is that this is no longer true.
Most of the mega casinos today are immense complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ one armed bandits close to any entrances.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot machines are installed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more folks could see winning jackpots and be roused to play. Nonetheless, we find that this also is not 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 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slots.