Books have been said on this subject, and the contention and discourse about where the "hot" one armed bandits are placed in a casino are still rampant – more than sixty years after slot machines were 1st placed in casinos.
The classic rule is that the most favorable slot machine games were positioned just inside the entry of the casino; so that potential players going by would be able to see jackpot winners … be impressed enough to come unto the gambling floor and play. Our inference is that this is no longer the case.
Nearly all of the large casinos nowadays are behemothic complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slot machines near to any doorways.
Yet another traditional rule is that loose slot machine games are put on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more folks could see winning jackpots and be inspired to play. Importantly though, 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 the slots 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!
These days, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose slot machine games.