Volumes have been stated on this subject, and the disquiet and squabbling about where the "hot" video slots are placed in a casino are still passionate – over 60 years after slots were first added to the gaming floor in the casinos.
The quintessential rule is that the most favorable slot games were placed just inside the main door of the casino; so that potential players walking by would see real jackpot winners … be drawn to come inside … play. Our feeling is that this is not so anymore.
Practically all of the large casinos presently are giant complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machine games in close proximity to any entrances.
Another standard rule is that loose slot machine games are located on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be motivated to play. Notably however, 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 slot machines 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 one armed bandits.