Imagine you stride into a Luxor, Mohegan Sun or Tropicana casino brimming with confidence and your wallet filled with cash. You plan to enjoy some enjoyable, sensible gaming and a couple of drinks. But hours later you have no idea what time it is or how many drinks you’ve consumed, and you’re wondering where all your money went. You’re not alone, and it’s a problem that casinos are designed to fix.
The most common casino tricks are designed to distract you and dissociate the money you’re spending from the reality of it. For instance, you’ll never see a clock in a casino. That’s because the people managing the establishment want you to lose track of time, so you’ll keep coming back to try your luck and spend more money.
Casinos also use sounds and lights to create a manufactured euphoria that makes it difficult for you to step away from the tables and slots. They even offer scented oils that waft through ventilation systems to make you feel at home. In addition, they reward their best players with comps (free goods and services) like hotel rooms, meals, tickets to shows and even limo service or airline tickets.
While a casino’s success is built on a combination of elements, including demographic information, the biggest secret to the business is much more personal than that. The strategies that attract customers today are unlikely to be the same ones that draw them in five or ten years from now.
