Posted  by  admin

Casino Tricks To Keep You There

Of course, the free booze in Atlantic City’s casinos is a great incentive to stick around. You have to be sitting at a machine or a table to get drink service, and anybody who’s ever ordered drinks on the casino floor knows that those servers seem to always take their sweet time to get back to you—time that you’ll spend pulling that lever just a few more times. But did you know that you’re being manipulated in other ways too while you’re playing in the casinos? It’s no secret that Atlantic City’s casinos wants to keep you on the playing floor as long as possible, but how they do it might surprise you.

Welcome to the Bubble

When you leave, you take your money with you, and no casino operator wants that. The lack of windows in casinos also plays to this distortion of time. If you know it’s light out when you enter, then look outside and see the sun setting, that sets off a cue to let your brain know that you’ve been there for a substantial amount of time. Keep holding the mouse button down until the race is over half way done. You will know you have done it right if at the start of the race it has charged you 200 or 300 chips. On the occasion that your chosen horse wins, you will be paid as if you bet the max amount of chips, but you only paid 200. Summary: Choose horse. Make sure current bet is. Here are a few schemes casinos have used to screw unsuspecting blackjack players. Most of us associate blackjack tricks with advantage play techniques like shuffle tracking and card counting. There is good reason for that, because players are much more likely than casinos to try to use subtlety to tip the scale in their favor. Once you’re plopped in front of a slot machine, the casino wants to keep you there – that’s why most casinos are windowless with no clocks. Similarly, once you’re trapped in a spiral of infinite scrolling, social media apps don’t want you to look up. That’s why their feeds are deliberately designed to be endless. If you win, keep the winnings and bet the same small wager again. You could walk away now if you want to, but there isn’t much of a difference between leaving with $2 or $1, though both are better than nothing. If you lose, double your original wager and put it on the same bet again. For example, if you lost $1 on red, place $2 on red again.

Now that you’re inside, have yourself a seat at one of the machines or tables. There are lots to choose from. Lots, and lots, and lots to choose from, all grouped together in large formations across the floor. Don’t worry that you can’t see the exit – that’s not important. What’s important is that you’re here now, inside, and ready to play.

The geography of the long blocks of slot and electronic games and the rows of tables serves a purpose in keeping you at the casino longer. They’re obstructing your view of the exit, preventing your brain from creating a clear path to it. It’s not just the path to the exit, either. Getting to a restroom, payout machine, or guest services also requires having to navigate your way through the tight, dim maze of other players and their audible winnings.

When you can’t visualize your exit path, you’re not as likely to think about it, keeping you inside longer. Making you walk past the games with all their lights and sounds as you try to find your way out gives you lots of opportunities to stop and get back on a machine, hoping that this last time will be your chance to hit the jackpot. Distraction is key to keeping you here, and the maze you have to navigate in order to leave is full of them. And if the floor layout wasn’t confusing enough, those garish carpets are more than just a designer’s bad taste.

Yup. The carpets are in on it too. Those bold, repeating patterns that clash with each other and everything else in the room work only to bring your mind back to one thing – gambling. Try looking at the floor – it’s jarring, so you look back at the machine or table in front of you. The only place to glance is clear across the room, through the crowds of other people playing and winning. Others look across the room and see you playing too, completing the cycle of free advertising on the casino floor. Trying to map out your exit strategy while looking down at the carpet or up at the mirrored ceiling? Good luck with that.

Inside, It’s Always Trump O’Clock

Or Borgata O’Clock, or Revel O’Clock, or Wherever You’re Playing O’Clock. The point is there are no clocks. The first step to lulling you into an hours-long gambling binge is to distort your sense of time – if you can glance up at a clock and visually note how long you’ve been inside the casino, you’re more likely to make mindful decisions about how long you’ve been there and when it’s a good idea to leave. When you leave, you take your money with you, and no casino operator wants that.

The lack of windows in casinos also plays to this distortion of time. If you know it’s light out when you enter, then look outside and see the sun setting, that sets off a cue to let your brain know that you’ve been there for a substantial amount of time. The sunlight, just like the face of a clock, visually records the day’s cycle, which is tied closely with the human circadian rhythm. Removing these indicators can distort the circadian rhythm, which is exactly what casino owners want. The goal is to make it seem like time is standing still while you’re inside because when you lose track of time, you lose track of your money.

Hearing is Believing

Casino

Have you ever played at a completely silent slot machine? It’s weird, right? There’s no excitement when you win and those minor wins just look so – minor. It’s all part of the design.

The brain zeroes in to whatever activity it’s engaged with, focusing all senses on that task. When you’re playing a slot game, your eyes and ears are plugged into the game in front of you, perceiving auditory and visual clues from the machine. The cochlea, a hollow portion of the inner ear, relays all auditory stimuli to the brain through a system of neuron groups, allowing the brain to then analyze and interpret the stimuli. When a celebratory sound comes from the machine, the brain interprets it as a positive action, regardless of what the visual readout on the machine’s screen actually shows. That’s why a twenty-five cent win on a spin that cost a dollar garners noise, flashing, and animation in some games. It’s been proven that if a player is told a win is significant, he or she will perceive it that way even if money was lost on the spin.

The Music Sets the Scene

The music is another tactic to dull your sense of time and place. It’s purposely kept low – if it drowns out the sound of jackpots going off, that’d be bad for business. Instead, it supplements the atmosphere. Songs transition seamlessly into each other, careful not to upset the ambiance and take you out of “the zone.” Everything here has been carefully crafted to fade into the background, manipulating you through subtle gestures and environment changes. Those free drinks aren’t really free. You pay for them with every hand, every spin, and every decision to put your chips on black instead of red.

Keeping You Propped Up with Some Good Old O2

You’ve surely heard that casinos pump extra oxygen onto the gaming floors to keep players wide awake and energized through the night, right? Wrong. This myth has been around for years and was first attributed to Las Vegas casinos.

Artificially inflated oxygen levels are a fire hazard because oxygen is an accelerator for fire. A fire needs it to be able to spread. If this myth was true, a simple lit cigarette could cause a giant conflagration inside a casino, destroying everything inside and putting hundreds of lives at risk.

Clever Marketing or Blatant Deceit?

You’re a consumer. We live in a consumerist society, and you’re being marketed to all day, every day. It should be no surprise that casinos actively market to you once you’re through the front door. You’re a customer – you’re there to buy a service, which in this case is the chance to hit it big. It’s no different from the supermarkets that place essential items far from each other in an effort to make shoppers walk through the entire store or the clothing stores that employ scent to build a mental association with their products. In all these instances, you’re being marketed to; in the case of casinos, aggressively.

A casino’s attack on your senses is multi-pronged. Entering into one without knowing that you’re being manipulated this way can be dangerous. A little knowledge can go a long way, and understanding the situation you’re in will help you make better choices about it. Gambling in casinos is a lot of fun. Allowing yourself to be fully taken advantage of through these techniques isn’t.


Casinos have more slot machines than all of the other games combined. But unlike many casino games, the slots still have some secrets.

Looking to play slots online? Check out one of the sites above!

Casino Tricks To Keep You There

Here’s a list of 15 slot machine secrets the casinos don’t want you to know about.

1. Slot placement isn’t random

Although casinos would like you to think that everything on the floor is placed in a completely random way for ease of access and aesthetics, this certainly isn’t the case.

Every square foot of the casino is analyzed, measured, and reported on by the casino gaming department. Traffic patterns are monitored and value is placed on certain areas of the casino to determine which slots or games to place in that area.

Usually, the highest yield slots are placed in the most popular locations in the casino. On top of this, the most popular slots are also placed in these areas to attract players into the casino to play.

So now you know that those slots that are most prominent and visible are the ones that make the most money for the casino, which means they’re also the most disadvantageous for the player. Head towards the back of the casino next time you want to play slot machines to find a better value.

2. Some slots pay out more than others

Not all slot machines are created equal, and this means they all don’t pay out at the same rate.

Generally speaking, video slots pay out less than classic reel slots. This is because reel slots are cheaper to run and maintain, and aren’t as appealing to the player as the video slot.

Video slots are now extravagant and have pop-culture themes, which attracts more players. Because of this, the casinos can dial down the payout rate.

Alternatively, the classic slots aren’t as popular or appealing anymore so the casinos will dial up the payout rate to attract more players, and subsequently keep you at the slot longer. I suggest you do a bit of searching on the internet about slot payout rates as this information is widely available, particularly for popular gaming locations.

3. The slots club doesn’t exist to reward you

This is one of the biggest cons in the gambling industry. You know how the casinos promote themselves as giving back to the player and rewarding you for your play? This is all a lie.

Now, I’m not saying you won’t get some free play credits, access to promotions, and other comps for being a part of the slot or player’s club, but this isn’t why it exists. It exists to provide the casino marketing department with player data so that they can attract and retain you as a customer.

Yes, that’s right, all the free money and comps you get out of the casino are from the marketing department. They will analyze your play, movement, likes, dislikes, and betting patterns to determine how best to market themselves to you so that you return.

The slots club is a powerful marketing tool, and while it’s always a good idea to join and use your card whenever you play, don’t fool yourself into thinking that this is all done to reward you.

4. You can’t win at slots in the long run

People do win at slots all the time. They have big wins and small wins; the problem is that on a long enough timeline it’s impossible to win.

Slots are manufactured and programmed in a way to ensure that they only pay back a certain percentage of the money that’s placed into them by players. Usually, this is in the range of 70-90% but it can be far worse or better depending on where you’re playing.

No one would ever play if you didn’t win from time to time, so this is also built into the machines. Some casinos don’t want you to know this and in some US states, they don’t even have to tell you what the payout rate is. Fortunately, there are many states that do provide it to players, and I highly recommend taking advantage of that information.

Although it’s pretty common these days for players to know that you can’t win in the long run, some still don’t know, and those that are oblivious to this fact are loved by casinos.

5. Max betting is the best option

This one may seem counter-intuitive but it’s true. On most slots, max betting activates all the bonuses and jackpots and increases your odds of getting lucky and winning, which makes it the best option for players.

Although it doesn’t make too much of a difference, it still creates more favorable conditions for the player. The casinos don’t want you to know this because they want you to bet small and more often at a worse payout rate, which makes them more money in the long run.

One thing you certainly don’t want to do though is max-bet above your bankroll and burn through more money than you intended to. Playing more than you can afford to lose is playing right into the casino’s hands. If you can’t afford the max bet on a slot then drop down in denominations or move to a machine where the max bet is smaller and works within your bankroll.

6. Class 2 slots aren’t really slots at all

Sometimes you’ll come across slot machines that are classified as class 2 slots. These are usually found on native Indian reservations or racinos in the United States.

These aren’t traditional slots like what you would find in Las Vegas. Vegas slots are Class 3 slots and are proper slot machine games.

Class 2 slots are actually pre-programmed bingo games which present a slot face for entertainment purposes. Class 3 slots are usually illegal in the jurisdictions that have these slots bingo games, so game manufacturers and casinos combined their forces to come up with this alternative.

Sometimes you’ll see a small bingo card on the bottom corner of the screen which will straight away tell you that this is a class 2 slot machine. So, be warned, these machines are not slots at all and you’ll be effectively playing computer bingo when you start spinning on these.

7. Video slots pay out less than classic slots

You

Big fancy video slots will almost always pay out less than classic reel slots. This is because of the fact they’re more entertaining, draw more players and action, and cost the casinos a lot more to run and maintain.

These big machines often take up two to three times the amount of space compared to classic slots and tend to cost the casinos a lot more to keep them running. In order to maximize profits, the casinos will then dial down the payout rate on these machines so they still make enough money on them.

Immersive video slots are a huge moneymaker for the casino, so don’t go in thinking you have the same chance of winning on these compared to traditional old school slots. If you’re looking for better chances to win on slot machines, then stick to the classic slots.

8. Slots are completely random

Casinos don’t want you to know this, but slot machines are completely random in nature. Although they are weighted to pay out at a certain rate, this is still in line with the randomness of results that a slot will produce.

Each spin is completely independent of the previous spin. As an example, if you were to win the jackpot on one spin, then the likelihood of winning the jackpot on the next spin is exactly the same. No previous events impact future events. This isn’t how they work.

Casinos don’t want you to know this because they want you to think slots are “hot” or “cold”, because that will cloud your judgment in respect to how much you play and gamble. This works out better for them in the long run so they are happy for these myths to grow and spread.

9. All of your play is tracked

From the moment you sit down at a slot and enter your player card and cash, every movement you make is tracked automatically by the casino. Slot machines are now networked and have sophisticated hardware and software to track everything you do.

This information is collected, analyzed, and insight reports are developed and delivered to the casino marketing department so they can work out the best possible way to market their casino and slots to you so that you keep coming back and play more. If you don’t want your play tracked then simply don’t use your player’s card, but then you won’t get any casino comps.

In the near future, if it’s not being used already, casino marketing departments will start using security infrastructure to monitor and track your play irrespective of whether you use your card or not. Facial recognition programs will detect you, associate you with a player’s card or create a new player account and track everything you do on a video feed.

This is a bit scary and it shows the lengths casinos will go to. If you play online, everything is tracked under your player account, so it’s easier for online casinos to monitor what you do in this respect.

10. Payout tickets are more likely to be put back into a machine

Over the past 20 years, casinos have slowly phased out cash payouts at slots. These days you’ll likely receive a ticket when you cash out, which you then must take to a cash-out machine or the cage to exchange for cash.

While the casinos will claim this is for your convenience, one of the main reasons they’ve made this change is to disassociate you from the fact you’re holding money. This is similar to what they do with chips on table games.

Psychological studies have proven that people are far more likely to gamble more with a ticket or chips, as opposed to cash. So don’t be fooled into placing your ticket into another slot on the way to cashing out, they’ve done this on purpose. I’d recommend that you always cash the tickets out for cash every time, instead of keeping it for play later.

Casino Tricks To Keep You There Alone

11. Slot arms don’t exist as much anymore because they slow down play

Back in the day, pretty much every slot machine had an arm, or lever, that you pull to activate the spin. These days it’s much harder to find machines that have these.

While there are a few reasons for this, the main reason and the one the casinos don’t want you to know is because using a lever is much slower when compared to pressing a button. Casinos want you to be playing as quickly as possible when it comes to slots because the more you spin the more the odds move in their favor.

Casino Tricks To Keep You There One

So by having buttons instead of levers the game moves a lot faster. Some may even say they’ve removed the lever so people don’t refer to slot machines as one-armed bandits anymore, but that may just be here-say.

12. Games are designed to be played as fast as possible

As we touched on in the previous secret, casinos want you to play whatever game you’re on as quickly as possible. While one of the main measurements on a slot is the time spent playing, they also want you to play as quickly as possible.

This increases the yield on the machine for the casino, meaning they make more money. Consider this, if you have a bank of widely popular slots which many people want to play, and it takes 20 seconds per spin, that’s quite a lot of time.

If a spin takes five seconds then you’re getting four times the amount of play on that machine which results in much more money passing through. So, all the time the casinos are trying to think of ways to make games happen much faster. They don’t want you playing slowly, so make sure you take your time next time you sit down at a slot. After all, the more time you play the more entertainment value you get.

13. Slot sounds and graphics are designed to make you feel happy

One thing that casinos certainly don’t want you to know about is the fact that slot machine manufacturers have teams of psychologists and researchers that provide advice on what sounds, colors, movements and graphics to use in games in order to make the player feel as happy as possible.

This is both good and bad. Firstly, it’s good if you’re playing for entertainment’s sake and know your limits when it comes to how much money you’re willing to play with. If this is the case then why not play a game that’s designed to make you feel happy.

Secondly, it’s bad when it comes to problem gamblers who don’t know when to stop and are chasing that happy feeling that the games give them. So this is a two-way street; that’s for sure. Casinos probably don’t want you to know this because it isn’t a great look.

14. Sometimes a win isn’t a win

One recent trend on slots is to play a jingle and show an animation showing that a player has had a win; this used to be a good thing and it meant you were making a profit, but not so much these days.

Much to the ire of lawmakers and the regulators, slot machines now play this jingle and imply a win, even when the spin results in less money won than you actually wagered on that spin in the first place. So this is essentially a loss and it’s trying to trick the player into thinking that they won.

Regulators are trying to have this outlawed but it will take some time. So, next time you’re playing don’t be fooled by the animation and sounds and the on-screen advice that says you’ve had a win. Make sure you check how much you ‘won’ when compared to how much you bet, before you celebrate.

15. Major progressive jackpots are played across multiple venues

Casino Tricks To Keep You There Faster

Have you ever walked past a progressive jackpot slot machine and stared in awe at the huge jackpot which is currently available and is running into the millions of dollars?

If so, then you may not be aware that these slots are actually linked nationwide and the jackpot is played across thousands and thousands of machines and the casinos actually have no part in this prize.

Casinos don’t want you to know this of course; they want you to think that it’s just that machine so that you sit down and play and spin away thinking that you’re the only person who could possibly win that prize at that time.

Casino Tricks To Keep You There Soon

These major progressive jackpot machines actually take a small cut from each bet you make and divert it to the major jackpot. So you should never play on one of these unless your ultimate goal is to win the life-changing money, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.

Conclusion

Casinos are designed to make money just like any business. The slot machines are a big piece of the profit puzzle so the casinos do everything they can to make them more profitable.

Now that you know these 15 slot machine secrets the casinos don’t want you to know you can gamble as an informed player. If you love slots there’s no reason to stop playing, but you should know these secrets before you play again.