Volumes have been stated on this issue, and the contention and feuds about where the "hot" video slots are installed in the casino are still taking place – more than sixty yrs after the slots were 1st placed in the casinos.
The classic rule is that the most favorable slots were put just inside the main door of the casino; so that casino fanatics walking by would see actual jackpot winners and be enticed to come into the casino and play. Our deduction is that this is not so anymore.
The great majority of the large casinos these days are immense complexes … now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ one armed bandits close-by any entrances.
Another traditional rule is that loose slot machines are positioned on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Importantly 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 slot machine games 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 machines.