You stride into the Luxor, Mohegan Sun, or Tropicana brimming with confidence and your wallet filled with cash. You’ve got plans for a little enjoyable, sensible gaming and maybe two rounds of drinks. But hours later, you’re completely out of cash and have no idea where your money went.
This is how casinos trick you into spending money. Using sounds, lights and physical design, casinos are engineered to lead people into gambling and then keep them playing. Business Insider reveals nine tricks casinos use to make it hard to walk away.
One of the most important aspects of casino design is audio, lighting and visual (AVL) technology. This includes things like the calming scents that casinos waft through their ventilation systems, which can help people feel comfortable as they gamble. It also includes the sound of slot machines and the joy of hitting a jackpot. These are all part of a manufactured euphoric setting designed to keep players coming back for more.
Another way casinos manipulate people is by changing their cash into chips. This helps them avoid the sunk cost fallacy – a psychological effect that causes people to continue betting after they’ve lost. They can also use reward programs to take the sting out of losing. For example, if you lose $700 on a poker game, the sting is lessened when you can still earn points for a free meal.
Casino is a great film from Martin Scorsese because it takes a realistic look at Las Vegas, instead of the usual epic crime dramas that show only the glamour and opulence. It also reveals the roots of Vegas’s connection with organized crime, and the ways that large gambling corporations have changed it. While many of the characters are mired in greed and treachery, there is still a sense of tragedy.