Volumes have been said on this subject, and the bickering and face-offs about where the "hot" slot games are installed in the casino are still ongoing – over 60 yrs after slot games were 1st placed in casinos.
The classic rule is that the most favorable slot machines were put just inside the entry of the casino; so that folks passing by would see real jackpot winners and be stimulated to come into the casino … play. Our thought is that this is definitely no longer true.
Just about all of the mega casinos today are grand complexes and it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machines in close proximity to any of the doors.
Another traditional rule is that loose slot machines are installed on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more fun seekers could see winning jackpots and be roused to play. Notably 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!
These days, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slots.