Books have been said on this issue, and the debates and face-offs about where the "hot" video slots are positioned in a casino are still happening – sixty yrs after the slots were 1st added to the gaming floor in gambling houses.
The classic rule is that the superior slot games were installed just inside the main entryway of the casino; so that potential gamblers going by would see actual jackpot winners … be enticed to come unto the gaming floor and play. Our viewpoint is that this is not so anymore.
The majority of the major casinos nowadays are mammoth complexes and it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slot machines close-by any of the doors.
An additional classic rule is that loose slots are placed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more persons could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Notably however, 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose slots.