Volumes have been said on this topic, and the conflict and arguments about where the "hot" slots are located in a casino are still bubbling – over 60 yrs after slot machine games were 1st placed in casinos.
The quintessential rule is that the most favorable slots were placed just inside the entry of the casino; so that folks going by would be able to see jackpot winners … be enticed to come unto the gaming floor and play. Our theorem is that this is definitely no longer true.
The majority of the large casinos today are jumbo complexes … it’s no longer possible to see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to situate the ‘loose’ slot machines near to any of the doors.
An additional traditional rule is that loose slot machine games are positioned on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more potential gamblers could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Notably though, 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 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!
In recent times, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose slot machines.