Volumes have been written on this issue, and the debates and arguments about where the "hot" slots are located in the casino are still raging – over sixty yrs after the slots were 1st placed in the casinos.
The quintessential rule is that the superior slot machines were installed just inside the main entryway of the casino; so that folks passing by would see actual jackpot winners … be enticed to come into the casino and play. Our theorem is that this is definitely no longer so.
Nearly all of the mega casinos nowadays are massive complexes … you no longer can see inside from the sidewalk, so there is no longer a reason to place the ‘loose’ slot machines close to any doors.
Yet another standard rule is that loose slot games are located on the major aisles inside the casinos, again so that more people could see winning jackpots and be inspired to play. Importantly 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 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!
These days, casinos are constantly changing their perspective about where to place the loose slot games.