Volumes have been said on this matter, and the debates and discord about where the "hot" slots are placed in a casino are still taking place – over 60 yrs after slots were first placed in gambling houses.
The quintessential rule is that the most favorable slot games were located just inside the main foyer of the casino; so that people passing by would be able to see jackpot winners … be aroused to come unto the gambling floor … play. Our verdict is that this is definitely no longer so.
Just about all of the big name casinos nowadays are massive complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slot machine games in close proximity to any doors.
Another traditional rule is that loose one armed bandits are put on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be motivated to play. Notably though, we find that this also isn’t 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 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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose slot games.