Volumes have been said on this topic, and the conflict and discord about where the "hot" video slots are positioned in a casino are still on-going – 60 years after slot machines were 1st placed in casinos.
The standard rule is that the most favorable slot games were put just inside the main foyer of the casino; so that persons passing by would see actual jackpot winners and be smitten to come inside and play. Our finding is that this is definitely no longer so.
Most of the major casinos these days are super-colossal complexes … it is not possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ one armed bandits near any doorways.
Yet another classic rule is that loose slots are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be galvanized to play. Nonetheless, 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 slot machine games 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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their philosophy about where to place the loose slots.