Casino, a film from director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, was an epic crime drama that laid bare the vast web of corruption that had wrapped itself around the Las Vegas gambling industry. Its tentacles reached into politics, Teamsters unions, the Chicago mob, and even the Midwest mafia based out of Kansas City.
Casino has long been considered the definitive movie about casino-based crime. It’s a taut, compelling thriller that doesn’t lag in the middle and manages to stay fresh all the way through. But the movie is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how casinos use design and psychology to keep people spending money they don’t have.
From the moment you step foot in a casino, everything is designed to get you to gamble more money. Rather than focusing on demographics — such as age, income, and other factors that can help marketers determine what their target audience is looking for — casinos focus on the emotions that drive people to gamble. Gaming, eating and drinking, and entertainment are all designed to make you feel good about yourself and keep you coming back for more.
While most casinos have strict rules in place to prevent cheating and stealing, not all do. When large amounts of cash are handled on a daily basis, both patrons and staff can be tempted to cheat or steal.
Because of this, it’s important to make sure you’re working with a trusted online casino that adheres to strict licensing and regulation rules. A trustworthy casino will also have SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) security in place, which protects your personal information from hackers and keeps it safe when you’re gambling online.
The first thing you notice when you walk into a casino is the roar of slot machines and the flashing lights of table games. This is intentionally done to draw your attention away from the rest of the building, enticing you to spend more time there.
Once you’re inside, the floorplan isn’t laid out to make it easy for you to find your way out again. Instead, there are twisting paths that lead past more opportunities to press your luck. Moreover, bathrooms are hidden deeper into the building, meaning you’ll have to venture further past the gaming tables to relieve yourself.
Another trick casinos use to keep you in the game is to distract you from thinking about how much you’re losing. They do this by converting your hard-earned cash into colorful chips, which aren’t the same as actual currency. This makes it harder to count your losses and gives you a false sense of hope that you’ll win more next time.
Casinos also amplify the sound of big wins, creating a buzz that entices other players to try their hand at beating the odds. As a result, you’ll end up staying longer and losing more than you intended to. Ultimately, these strategies make it impossible to step away from the tables and let logic prevail.
