Volumes have been stated on this issue, and the controversy and disharmony about where the "hot" slot machines are installed in the casino are still passionate – over sixty yrs after the slot machines were 1st installed in casinos.
The traditional rule is that the better slot machine games were positioned just inside the main entry of the casino; so that casino fanatics passing by would see actual jackpot winners … be intrigued enough to come unto the gambling floor … play. Our estimation is that this is definitely no longer true.
Just about all of the major casinos today are super-colossal complexes and you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ slot machine games in close proximity to any entrances.
An additional classic rule is that loose slots are put on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Interestingly though, 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 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.