Most people visit casinos for fun, taking weekend bus trips with their friends to play blackjack, dice, and slots. Casinos evoke a sense of glamour with their flashy lights, opulent furnishings, and endless rows of slot machines. But these places are more than just places to gamble. They are designed to make you spend more money and crave coming back, even though the house always wins. Casinos use everything from psychology tricks to architectural design to entice players into gambling the night away.
Casino is a Martin Scorsese film that takes us deep into the desert city of Las Vegas and shows how it got its start, its ties to organized crime, and how huge gambling corporations took over the area. While many movies about Las Vegas only scratch the surface of this glitzy town, Casino is a deeper look at its past and present that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout.
In the early days of legalized gambling in Nevada, it was illegal to advertise casino gaming. Once the law changed in 1999, advertising messages could focus on winning and include statistics. But despite this, many casinos still use a lot of puffery in their marketing strategies. Puffery is a term in English law that refers to promotional statements and claims that aren’t supported by facts and could be taken as untrue by any reasonable person. These types of misleading promotions are known as false advertising.
From the beginning, casinos have been designed to create a manufactured blissful experience for the guests that makes them feel like they are in a fantasy world and encourages them to gamble. The soothing smell of scented oils is wafted through the ventilation system, and the bright lights, joyful sound of clinking chips and spinning reels, and cheerful casino staff all combine to create an artificially euphoric atmosphere that entices visitors to continue spending their money on games they can’t win.
Another psychological trick casinos use is to confuse players about the odds of winning. By arranging slot machines in long rows and using different colors to indicate player status, casinos can manipulate the odds of winning. Machines closer to the front of the row have cooler colors, while those near the end are often bright red. By displaying these colors in different locations, casinos can create an illusion of the odds of hitting a jackpot and keep players gambling longer.
Finally, casinos often discourage players from leaving their slot machines by offering them free food, drinks and entertainment. Casinos are able to give these comps because they calculate the expected return on each game played and know that most bettors will lose their money in the long run.
To avoid getting caught up in this cycle of spending and losing, set aside a certain amount of cash to gamble with each day, and only bet what you can afford to lose. Whether you are gambling online or at a casino, remember that money management is the most important skill of all for successful and responsible gaming.