Volumes have been said on this matter, and the controversy and interchanges about where the "hot" one armed bandits are placed in the casino are still passionate – 60 years after slots were first placed in the casinos.
The standard rule is that the best slots were installed just inside the entrance of the casino; so that people going by would see actual jackpot winners … be infatuated enough to come inside and play. Our estimation is that this is definitely no longer the case.
Most of the major casinos today are immense complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slot machine games in close proximity to any of the doors.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot games are placed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more fun seekers could see winning jackpots and be influenced 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 slot machines 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 slot machine games.