Books have been set forth on this issue, and the contention and discord about where the "hot" slot machine games are positioned in a casino are still bubbling – sixty yrs after slot games were first added to the gaming floor in gambling houses.
The classic rule is that the very best slot machine games were put just inside the main entryway of the casino; so that potential gamblers walking by would see actual jackpot winners and be enthralled to come inside … play. Our theory is that this is no longer true.
Practically all of the big name casinos these days are grand complexes … now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ one armed bandits close to any entrances.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot machines are placed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more folks could see winning jackpots and be roused 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 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!
Today, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.