Volumes have been written on this topic, and the contention and ruckus about where the "hot" one armed bandits are placed in a casino are still rampant – over sixty yrs after slot games were first placed in gambling dens.
The standard rule is that the better slot machine games were positioned just inside the main door of the casino; so that people passing by would be able to see actual jackpot winners … be inspired to come into the casino … play. Our theory is that this is definitely no longer true.
Almost all of the major casinos these days are monstrous complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there’s no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slots near any doorways.
Yet another traditional rule is that loose slots are located on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more fun seekers could see winning jackpots and be influenced to play. Notably however, we find that this also is not 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 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose one armed bandits.