Whether you gamble once a week or once a year, here’s what you need to know about the ways casinos are designed to make you spend more.
Most people venture in their local casino every now and then, feeling excited about the possibility of hitting it big and walking out a winner. More often than not, those hopes are dashed within a half hour of gambling as players tell themselves “one more time” for the fifth time in a row.
The next time you decide to test your luck, make sure you’re aware of these secrets that casinos definitely don’t want you to know.
House Edge
No matter how much money you leave the casino with at the end of the night, the casino is still making much more than you did, thanks to the dreaded house edge.
House edge is essentially a mathematical advantage the casino has over its players that gives them an assured return from a bet, while it gives you an assured loss.
Now you can walk into the casino naive no longer—if you’re nice, you’ll give all of the sorry-looking people you pass while you’re walking in a warning for next time.
Keep away from keno.
If you want to treat the casino like it’s a charity you’re donating money to, try playing keno. It’s essentially the casino’s own version of the lottery, and it’s a game that comes with a 50 percent house advantage—yikes. We can see the appeal, though.
Usually there are women staffing the games and they’re more than happy to turn on the charm for a few tips. It can be fun to sit there and dream up a set of numbers that’ll help you win big.
However, with the slim chance you have at winning, you might as well play the regular lottery—at least that way your money goes back into your state’s coffers!
Speaking of keep away…
While you’re at it, stay far away from games like Let It Ride, Caribbean Stud Poker, Red Dog, and the showy games like Wheel of Fortune.
As fun as they can be, the house edge on these games is outrageous and not even worth a shot.
True Odds
If it didn’t sink in the first time, let us mention this again—even when you do win, the casino is still the big winner. For each and every game you play, there are odds that dictate your chance of winning any particular bet that you put down, but there are also odds that the casino uses to dictate how you get paid out when you win.
The difference between these two odds, unfortunately, will always lean in favor of the casino, but that shouldn’t be a surprise by now.
Smaller House Edge
Not every game comes with the same level of advantage geared toward the casino, and some of them come with a much smaller house edge.
It’s better to stick with games like these, because they give you a better chance of walking away a winner. That is, as long as you play the game with the best strategy in mind.
The Best Games?
There are quite a few games in the casino that won’t have you losing as much money as other games if you play them often.
Games like blackjack, bingo, live poker, pai gow poker, and mini baccarat all have a house edge of 3 percent or below, so they come with a greater chance of you walking away with some money.
Intentional Disorientation
It’s not just the games that are working against you. Watch the video below to learn how casinos are designed to trick you into staying as long as possible.
Win and Walk
Have you ever wondered how anyone manages to actually leave a casino with more than they came in with? It’s not really about making that one big one, because a lot of people turn around and bet all of their winnings in seconds. Instead, it’s about winning and then walking away.
If you’re making smaller bets, it’s all right to stick around for a little while to see if you can make your pile grow, but you should always leave when you start to feel any disappointment sinking in—preferably before you’ve bet everything you have.
Playing Slots?
It seems like some people do really well at slots and others don’t care for them at all. The secret to winning? You have to play the max bet each time you’re about to pull that lever to bet.
Placing the maximum bet allowed means you can win the most money, and on a game where you’re probably only betting 25 cents to a dollar at a time, it’s worth it to just go all in.
Comps keep you around.
Ever wondered why certain people always seem to get offers for free food and free show tickets from casinos? It’s because they’re spending a lot of money, and the casino wants them to keep it up.
Handing out freebies to big spenders isn’t actually that big of an expense for the casino, and it’ll make that particular gambler feel well taken care of. Those who gamble often may even come to expect these types of handouts and might move on to the next casino if they don’t get any offers.
Turn up the lights.
Sure, the lights from all of the games are shiny enough and definitely lure people in, but casinos want you to feel like a winner even when you’re not sitting at a machine.
The lights in casinos are often designed to be bright, bold, and colorful, making each and every person there feel like a winner who’s having a great time—even if they’re losing miserably.
Where are the bathrooms?
We already know that casinos are designed to draw you in, and certain things are strategically placed within the casino to draw you deeper and deeper in.
For example, have you ever noticed that the bathrooms in most casinos aren’t located anywhere near the entrance to the casino floor? That’s because they want you to pass more games as your hunt for the restroom in the hopes that you’ll give a new game a try.
History doesn’t matter.
Many people walk in casinos thinking about that thing they did that one time, knowing that if they can replicate their results, they’ll win big. Sure, it’s a nice thought, but that’s not how gambling works.
You can absolutely walk in with a certain strategy, but the game will produce random results each time, so you have to be prepared to go with the flow and see what works each time for each game you play.
Knowledge helps, but…
Most gamblers have one particular game that they love, and knowing a lot about the game can definitely help increase your odds of winning. However, knowing the game doesn’t guarantee that you’ll win every single time. Although it’ll definitely help you make decisions when you need to, no amount of game experience can help you predict the cards that are drawn, and that’s ultimately what matters most.
They want you to keep playing.
You may walk in the casino planning on spending a specific amount of time there before heading back home, but that’s not what the casino has in mind. Although you might think they’d feel guilty about stripping away all of your money in a single night, you’d be wrong, because the only way they’ll give it back is if you win it for yourself.
Remember, gambling more doesn’t always mean more money for you, and the wins are often more stressful than they’re worth.
