Volumes have been written on this topic, and the disquiet and discussion about where the "hot" slots are located in the casino are still rampant – over sixty years after the slots were 1st placed in gambling houses.
The traditional rule is that the most favorable slot games were put just inside the main entry of the casino; so that folks passing by would see jackpot winners … be attracted to come into the casino and play. Our inference is that this is no longer true.
Just about all of the big name casinos today are immense complexes and it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to situate the ‘loose’ slot machines near any doorways.
Another standard rule is that loose slot machine games are located on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be inspired to play. Notably however, 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 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 perspective about where to place the loose slot machine games.