Books have been said on this item, and the contention and discourse about where the "hot" video slots are placed in the casino are still intense – more than sixty yrs after the slots were 1st placed in gambling houses.
The traditional rule is that the most favorable slots were put just inside the entrance of the casino; so that potential players walking by would see jackpot winners … be tempted to come unto the gaming floor and play. Our estimation is that this is not so anymore.
Most of the mega casinos presently are humongous complexes and you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machine games in close proximity to any doors.
Another classic rule is that loose one armed bandits are placed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be encouraged to play. Interestingly though, we find that this also isn’t 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 the 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 perspective about where to place the loose slot games.