Oh they have a lot of tricks up their sleeves! Some of the common and well known tricks are:
Pumping oxygen into the air. This keeps us awake, energized and refreshed.
Piping aromas through the air vents to keep us stimulated. .
Bright lights , lots of noise and hypnotic music that loops over and over
No windows/no clocks. They don't want you to know what time it is.
That would only make you aware of how long you've been sitting at the Blackjack table. Windows will only let you see it going from day to night, or night to day. Again reminding you that you've been there for an entire 8 hour shift!
The crazy carpet is in on it too! Because the carpet is so ugly, you won't want to look down at it. Looking down can cause you to get sleepy and leave. Instead you look straight ahead and see all the blinking lights.
Some other tricks that aren't so well-known and kind of make you stop and think are:
Creating a sense of intimacy. They want you relaxed and comfy like you are at home.
Disorient you with the layout of the casino. Narrow pathways that are more like a maze. That way you can't avoid walking past the machine that's blinking and talking to you.
Random entrance/exit doors. The harder to find, the more machines/ tables you'll pass by.
Illusion that you are in control. You make your decision in Blackjack. You roll the dice in Craps, therefore you control the game.
Machines are set up to do near misses. That makes you think that the machine is ready and you continue to play only to see near misses.
Besides normal bets, there's always side bets.
Cashiers Cage is where it is for a reason. They don't want you to find it. The longer you look for it, the more you will play on your journey to find it.
The switching of the dealers, creating a burn card.
When someone hits big, they make a party of it. Announcements, gathering of employees, etc. That makes you think if they can win, so can you.
Complimentary! Face it. If you get a food comp or a room comp, you're going to stay and play.
ATM machines are everywhere. The restroom is impossible to find but you hit an ATM machine everytime you look down at that gaudy carpet.
Players cards giving you points. The points can be exchanged for food and whatever else. So the hundred dollars you just lost isn't a loss at all. You just got 15 points!
Chips instead of cash. The chips are more like a toy. Think about this one for a second. It most definitely makes a difference if you put a $20 bill into play on a table as opposed to a $20 chip!
Just like the chips, you get digital credits on the machines. Put $20 in a machine and it registers as credits, not cash. Playing 5 credits isn't as bad as playing $1.25. …….
Constantly being reminded to enjoy yourself and have fun. Power of suggestion!
Let's not forget the alcohol! Oh yes, the free drinks……..enough said!
I'm sure there's more. There has to be!
The tricks of the trade must extend into the restaurants, hotel rooms, bathrooms, etc. They wouldn't go through all that research and experimenting to leave it at the casino floor! The mind blowing part of it all is that we allow our minds to be consumed with it all.
On one hand, it's fascinating how they can become the puppet master and we don't notice it.
On the other hand, it's a bit unsettling that subtle minor things like that can persuade us to be the puppets!
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