Casinos and How They Lure Customers Various

¶ … Casinos and how they lure customers [...] various ways casinos try to trick, manipulate, and lure their players to stay longer in their casinos. Casinos are in business to make money, and they make money by keeping gamblers glued to the tables and slots. They use a variety of ploys to keep people inside, from removing clocks so they do not know what time it is to feeding them free drinks and inexpensive food to keep them in the building. Casinos use a variety of ways to keep gamblers gaming, and knowing how they do it can give insight into the greed, corruption, and sheer arrogance of an industry that makes its living on other people's money and addictions.

Casinos lure gamblers to make money, and they do it any way they can, without regard for anything but their own maximum profit. How do they do it? The many ways they lure their "lambs to the slaughter" may be surprising in their variety, sheer ingenuity, and absolute disregard for anything but money. As author Popkin notes, "Since all casino games give the house a mathematical edge, the longer a player gambles, the greater the house's chance of winning" (Popkin 104). Just about anyone who has visited a casino can recognize some of the tactics, from no windows to free drinks, but underneath the flashing lights and dim interiors, there are numerous other ways the casinos manipulate players into staying longer at the tables and slots.

The ways casinos attempt to retain players is overwhelming. Studies have shown light on customer's foreheads "drains their energy," so casino lighting attempts to light the tables and slots rather than customer's faces. Hidden cameras look for cheaters, but also analyze how fast games are moving and dealers are shuffling. Dealers also hand out low denomination chips, and the colors black, red, purple, and blue are conducive to gambling, studies show, so they show up continually in the slot pits and on slot machines. Slot machines are programmed to "reward players with frequent small payoffs" (Popkin 106), and spend millions of dollars to learn everything they can about the players who gamble the most, and how to lure more of them into their casinos. Popkin continues, "Gamblers who can be lured to the hotel are especially prized. 'If we can get you to stay in our hotel, we can bump up your average top worth,' one marketer says" (Popkin 106). Casinos are also continually adding new games that bettors enjoy and that give even greater odds to the casino. As Popkin wryly notes, "For an industry governed by odds, casinos leave little to chance" (Popkin 108). Thus, the casinos recognize many items that will keep a gambler playing, and use any and all to lure gamblers in, and keep them in their seats.

Other items casinos use include free drinks and meals, entertainment, and free rooms for high rollers. They also use tournament play to lure gamblers in for "special" casino events. For example, casinos will sponsor slot or blackjack tournaments with low buy-ins for their "special" guests, and the tournaments may include free rooms, meals, and more. The casino hopes the patrons will gamble in more than just the tournament, but they also hope to lure players back for tournaments throughout the year. Many of the larger casinos also keep private aircraft, or regularly charter aircraft to bring in groups of heavy bettors to their properties. In return for free transportation, these gamblers must play a certain amount of money during their stay.

Casinos lure gamblers to make money, and they do it any way they can, without regard for anything but their own maximum profit. The practical implications of this practice are clear. The casinos make more money the longer they retain gamblers, and they are in the business to make money. However, there are other implications that most casinos would rather ignore, and those are the implications of problem gamblers. Compulsive gambling has existed as long as the casinos, but most of them would rather not acknowledge it exists. Some casinos do give out information on problem gambling, and will even ban problem gamblers at their own request, but most turn a blank eye on the problem. Several studies indicate there are between 15 and 20 million Americans who show some signs of problem gambling (Hills). Problem gambling can lead to many complications, including loss of job, home, and family, homelessness, abuse, health problems, and even suicide. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) spoke of suicide in its Gambling Report of 1999. "Commissioners heard repeated testimony about suicide and attempted suicide on the part of compulsive gamblers" (Hills). Thus, as casinos stimulate heavier gambling from their patrons, they are also adding to the continuing problem of compulsive gambling. They are tearing apart families and lives for the profit of the company.

As these studies show, the casinos have all the power in the equation. They lead their players to the tables just like "lambs to the slaughter," and all along the way, there are smiling faces more than happy to take their money. From the moment a gambler enters the casino, the odds are all in favor of the casino, and they have the upper hand in all their dealings with the gambler. It is common knowledge that the games' odds all favor the casinos, but far fewer gamblers recognize the great lengths that casinos go to in keeping gamblers in their seats and betting. As Popkin's article shows, there are numerous ways casinos manipulate gamblers, from pleasant-smelling air to color, lighting, and free alcohol. This manipulation is subtle in many ways, but it works on many of the people playing in casinos, and it adds to the number of problem gamblers in our country. In turn, problem gamblers strain local and national resources, and cost their communities in lost time, wages, loans, and increased social services. Thus, the casinos get richer at the expense of many who cannot afford to lose. Once a gambler enters the casino, he or she is putty in their hands, and their wallets are at stake. Casinos have only one purpose, to make money, and as Popkin notes at the end of his article, "If you wanna make money in a casino, own one'" (Popkin 108). This is funny, but for those players who cannot control their gambling, it is not funny at all. While some casinos do recognize the part they play in problem gambling, there is still much to be done to increase public awareness and treatment. The casinos have a moral obligation to do more to help problem gamblers, and since they do so much and spend so much to lure gamblers in the first place, it seems reasonable that they should spend more to help treat those who need it. Casinos spend millions to retain gamblers, and use a wide variety of ploys to keep gamblers playing. They have all the control when patrons enter their doors, and they should use some of this tremendous power to do something good for some of the people they have been luring in like sheep for years.