How Casinos Keep Us Spending Our Money

It’s happened to everyone: You stride into the Luxor, Mohegan Sun, or Tropicana brimming with confidence and a wallet filled with cash. You plan to enjoy a bit of enjoyable, sensible gambling and maybe two rounds of cocktails. Hours later you’re back at the ATM, wondering where your money went. How is it that people who work hard for their income and make reasoned financial decisions on a daily basis can throw hundreds of dollars away based on the roll of a dice or spin of a wheel? It turns out that casinos use every trick in the book to keep us spending our hard-earned money. The lights, sounds, and physical design of a casino are designed to lead us deeper into the building. We’re lured in by promises of excitement and glamour, then we’re distracted from the fact that it is a business with built-in advantages that ensure it will win the majority of the time.

Flashing lights and joyful sounds create a manufactured blissful atmosphere that makes you feel happy and energetic. And when someone wins at a slot machine or a card game, the cheers from other players are a reminder of how much fun it can be to play. The shared excitement encourages you to keep playing, even when you’re losing.

Many casinos don’t allow you to see the outside world, and they keep their interiors lit exactly the same at both day and night. This keeps you from knowing what time it is and gives the illusion that you still have hours to try your luck.