Volumes have been written on this subject, and the debates and discourse about where the "hot" one armed bandits are positioned in the casino are still happening – sixty yrs after slot machine games were 1st placed in gambling houses.
The traditional rule is that the better slots were located just inside the door of the casino; so that persons walking by would see jackpot winners … be infatuated enough to come unto the gambling floor … play. Our inclination is that this is not so anymore.
Most of the large casinos presently are super-colossal complexes and it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to situate the ‘loose’ slots close-by any entrances.
Another traditional rule is that loose one armed bandits are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more persons could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. 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 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slots.