Volumes have been said on this topic, and the controversy and arguments about where the "hot" slots are positioned in the casino are still passionate – over sixty years after slots were first placed in casinos.
The quintessential rule is that the most favorable slots were located just inside the main entrance of the casino; so that fun seekers walking by would see jackpot winners … be impressed enough to come into the casino … play. Our interpretation is that this is definitely no longer the case.
Practically all of the mega casinos today are mammoth complexes … you can no longer see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to put the ‘loose’ slot games near to any of the doors.
An additional traditional rule is that loose one armed bandits are installed on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be motivated to play. Notably 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 slot 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 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 games.