Books have been said on this issue, and the contention and face-offs about where the "hot" slot games are installed in the casino are still there – over 60 years after the slot machines were first added to the gaming floor in gambling houses.
The classic rule is that the superior slot machines were installed just inside the main entry of the casino; so that fun seekers going by would be able to see jackpot winners … be stirred to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our sneaking suspicion is that this is definitely no longer the case.
Many of the major casinos these days are herculean complexes and now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slot machines near any of the doors.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot machine games are installed on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more fun seekers could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Importantly though, 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 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 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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.