Books have been set forth on this issue, and the controversy and feuds about where the "hot" one armed bandits are located in a casino are still on-going – more than sixty yrs after slot machines were first placed in gambling houses.
The traditional rule is that the most favorable one armed bandits were put just inside the entry of the casino; so that fun seekers passing by would be able to see actual jackpot winners and be enthralled to come into the casino and play. Our stance is that this is no longer true.
Just about all of the big name casinos these days are super-colossal complexes and you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to situate the ‘loose’ slot games near any entrances or exits.
An additional classic 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 encouraged 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 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 slots.