Books have been written on this item, and the conflict and feuds about where the "hot" slots are installed in the casino are still passionate – over 60 years after slot machines were 1st placed in casinos.
The traditional rule is that the better slot machine games were placed just inside the main door of the casino; so that folks going by would see real jackpot winners and be enticed to come into the casino … play. Our deduction is that this is not so anymore.
Just about all of the mega casinos nowadays are magnificent complexes … it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machine games near any doors.
An additional classic rule is that loose slot games are positioned on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be encouraged to play. 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 one armed bandits 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 slot machines.