Volumes have been written on this topic, and the debates and discourse about where the "hot" slot games are placed in the casino are still bubbling – more than sixty years after slot games were first placed in gambling dens.
The classic rule is that the most favorable slot games were located just inside the entrance of the casino; so that potential players passing by would be able to see actual jackpot winners … be drawn to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our feeling is that this is not so anymore.
Most of the major casinos presently are mammoth complexes and 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 near any doors.
Another traditional rule is that loose slot games are put on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be roused to play. Notably 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose one armed bandits.