Volumes have been said on this subject, and the debates and discourse about where the "hot" slots are positioned in the casino are still taking place – over sixty yrs after slot machine games were first added to the gaming floor in the casinos.
The traditional rule is that the better slots were put just inside the door of the casino; so that people passing by would see jackpot winners … be convinced to come unto the gaming floor and play. Our deduction is that this is definitely no longer so.
The great majority of the big name casinos these days are gigantic complexes … you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machine games close to any entrances or exits.
An additional traditional rule is that loose one armed bandits are located on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more persons could see winning jackpots and be encouraged to play. Importantly however, 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!
Today, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.