Books have been said on this issue, and the conflict and discord about where the "hot" video slots are placed in the casino are still ongoing – sixty years after the slots were 1st installed in gambling houses.
The classic rule is that the better slots were positioned just inside the main foyer of the casino; so that potential gamblers going by would see real jackpot winners … be inspired to come inside and play. Our leaning is that this is no longer the case.
Just about all of the big name casinos nowadays are jumbo complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to have the ‘loose’ slot machines close to any doorways.
Yet another traditional rule is that loose slot machines are put on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be inspired to play. Interestingly 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 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 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 one armed bandits.