Poker Winner Blog

Subliminal Practices

Casinos use a variety of subliminal practices to ensure they get the maximum amount of money from visitors before they get anywhere near a gaming table.

Casino design is no accident. Almost every feature is built in with profit in mind. Exteriors are lavish and use every marketing trick to get players to walk through the door. This is taken to the extreme in Las Vegas, where shows put on outside the casinos get people to stop and watch, and, hopefully, go inside.

Many resort casinos have adjacent shopping malls. One moment you’re browsing around a shop, the next you’re inside a casino. Some casinos in Las Vegas are connected to neighbouring casinos by monorails and moving pavements (sidewalks).

Casino operators know that the longer a player remains inside the gaming hall, the more money he or she will spend, so every need is catered for. If you are a hotel guest, a car jockey will park your car, while day visitors are provided with transport from the parking lot to the casino entrance.

Waiters deliver food and drinks directly to the gaming tables. Many casinos supply free alcohol, as they know that a drunken player is less likely to care about losing. As many casinos are situated in hotels, players can simply sleep off their hangover on the premises.

Casinos have gone to great lengths to ensure that players do not get bored, by offering every type of top quality entertainment, from lavish variety shows to live sports events and a full range of sports facilities.

Players‘ awareness of time is reduced. Casinos do not have clocks and the dealers do not wear watches. In the artificial environment, it is always night-time.

On entering the gaming hall players encounter the slot machines. The flashing lights, bright colours, high noise levels and the hope of winning a big jackpot are all designed to attract customers. The slot machines are deliberately positioned so that players spend all their loose change on their way into and out of the casino. The slots are the most profitable games for the casino as they pay out on average only 75 to 80 per cent of the total amount staked.

A recent innovation has been the development of an odour that makes players bet more on the slot machines. It was developed by the US-based Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation. In trials carried out in Las Vegas, slots adapted to emit the odour produced a 45 per cent increase in business.

Visitors who just take a look inside a casino out of curiosity might be handed a few gaming chips. As these can only be exchanged at the tables, they are encouraged to place a few bets.

Players‘ associations with ‘real’ money can decrease when they exchange their cash for a pile of seemingly worthless plastic chips. An entire stack fits nicely into your hand and its tempting to put a number of chips on a single bet. Cash chips have a value printed on them but table chips do not, so it is very easy to forget their worth. Smart cards and coinless gaming reduce the link with cash even further.

At first glance, the advertised minimum stake for a casino may seem low. However casinos normally only have a few low-staking tables or slot machines which are usually very crowded, especially over weekends or holiday periods. To get into a more relaxed game it is necessary to up your stakes.

If a player appears to be on a winning streak, a technique called ’stepping up’ is employed by the dealer, who will make up payouts with chips of a slightly higher denomination. If the player continues to win, the value of the chips will be increased again. This is to subtly tempt the player to bet with the higher value chips. By betting higher stakes, players will lose their winnings more quickly.

Casinos hire attractive friendly personnel. Players wandering around the gaming hall may pass an empty roulette table. The dealer will smile in welcome and spin the wheel. Out of curiosity most players stop and watch to see where the ball will land. With a captive audience the dealer will quickly spin again. The spectators will soon be tempted to play.

Table games are played at a fast pace, which gives players little time to think. There is hardly any time between games to count your chips. On roulette, for example, there is an average of one spin a minute. Experienced players know that you don’t have to bet each time, but novices often rush to place new bets, particularly if they have won on the last round.

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