Books have been stated on this item, and the debates and disagreement about where the "hot" slots are installed in the casino are still there – 60 years after the slots were first installed in gambling houses.
The classic rule is that the best slot machines were located just inside the main doorway of the casino; so that casino fanatics passing by would see actual jackpot winners and be intrigued enough to come into the casino … play. Our frame of mind is that this is definitely no longer the case.
Almost all of the mega casinos these days are humongous complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to situate the ‘loose’ slot machine games in close proximity to any entrances.
Another traditional rule is that loose slot games are positioned on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers 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 slot machine 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!
These days, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose one armed bandits.