Books have been stated on this subject, and the debates and face-offs about where the "hot" slots are installed in the casino are still on-going – over 60 years after slot machine games were 1st installed in the casinos.
The standard rule is that the best one armed bandits were placed just inside the entry of the casino; so that persons walking by would be able to see real jackpot winners … be convinced to come into the casino and play. Our point of view is that this is no longer the case.
Practically all of the large casinos today are titanic complexes … now you can’t see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to position the ‘loose’ slot machines in close proximity to any entrances.
Yet another standard rule is that loose one armed bandits are located on the major aisles in the casinos, again so that more potential players could see winning jackpots and be encouraged to play. Notably however, 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 the 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 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!
Nowadays, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose slot games.
