Volumes have been said on this topic, and the bickering and disharmony about where the "hot" slot machines are placed in a casino are still raging – over 60 yrs after slot machine games were first placed in gambling dens.
The traditional rule is that the better slot games were put just inside the main doorway of the casino; so that casino fanatics going by would be able to see actual jackpot winners and be attracted to come unto the gaming floor … play. Our sneaking suspicion is that this is no longer true.
The majority of the big name casinos nowadays are gigantic complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slots near to any doors.
An additional traditional rule is that loose one armed bandits are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be encouraged to play. However, we find that this also is no longer a universal rule.
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!
Today, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slot machine games.