Books have been set forth on this item, and the contention and discussion about where the "hot" slot machines are installed in a casino are still raging – 60 yrs after slots were 1st placed in gambling houses.
The standard rule is that the most favorable slot games were positioned just inside the main doorway of the casino; so that everyone passing by would see actual jackpot winners … be enticed to come into the casino … play. Our reasoning is that this is definitely no longer the case.
Most of the major casinos these days are oversized complexes and it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slots close to any entrances or exits.
Another classic rule is that loose one armed bandits are positioned on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more persons could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Notably though, 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!
These days, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot machine games.