Volumes have been written on this issue, and the contention and face-offs about where the "hot" slot games are located in a casino are still raging – 60 yrs after slot games were 1st placed in the casinos.
The classic rule is that the very best slot machines were installed just inside the main door of the casino; so that casino fanatics walking by would be able to see jackpot winners and be smitten to come into the casino and play. Our thought is that this is definitely no longer the case.
The great majority of the mega casinos these days are jumbo complexes and it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to situate the ‘loose’ slot games close to any entrances.
An additional standard rule is that loose slots are installed on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be roused to play. However, 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 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.