Books have been said on this issue, and the bickering and discord about where the "hot" slot machines are positioned in a casino are still there – sixty years after slot machines were 1st placed in gambling dens.
The standard rule is that the best slot machines were positioned just inside the main entryway of the casino; so that potential players passing by would be able to see actual jackpot winners … be enticed to come into the casino … play. Our belief is that this is definitely no longer the case.
The great majority of the major casinos these days are titanic complexes … it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ slot machine games in close proximity to any exits.
Another standard rule is that loose slot machine games are installed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be energized to play. Importantly 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 one armed bandits 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 slots.