Books have been written on this subject, and the contention and ruckus about where the "hot" video slots are installed in the casino are still intense – over sixty years after slots were first placed in gambling houses.
The standard rule is that the most favorable slot machines were put just inside the main foyer of the casino; so that persons walking by would see jackpot winners … be mesmerized enough to come unto the gaming floor and play. Our assurance is that this is no longer the case.
Almost all of the mega casinos these days are jumbo complexes and it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ slot machine games in close proximity to any of the doors.
An additional classic rule is that loose slot machine games are installed on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Interestingly though, we find that this also is no longer a universal rule.
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 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 slot games.