Casino – How Casinos Keep Players Intoxicated

Casino is an epic film laying bare the web of corruption that gripped Vegas in the mob era. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the movie follows real-life bookie Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro) and his struggle to maintain control of the Tangiers hotel and casino. Along the way, he marries a drug-addicted trophy wife (Sharon Stone) and struggles with his friendship with loose-cannon mafioso Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci).

While casinos have many different ways to draw in customers and keep them playing, their most basic tactic is to keep players in an inebriated state as much as possible. This clouds their sense of time and money, making them less likely to track how much they’re losing. It also makes them more impulsive, so they’re more likely to make bad judgments that can cost them big.

Another trick casinos use is to strategically place essential amenities like toilets, restaurants, and cash machines deep within the gaming floor so that players have to pass by a lot of slot machines, tables, and other games on their way to them. This can create a burning temptation to make one more bet.

Finally, casinos often use a variety of scents and other sensory tricks to create a manufactured state of euphoria. For example, the smell of freshly baked bread, bright lights, and cheerful music can all entice people to gamble. These tactics, combined with the house edge of each game, ensure that casinos always come out on top.