On the surface, casinos are glitzy places for adults to spend a night gambling and drinking. But beneath the glitz and neon lights, casinos are designed to slowly drain people of their cash. This isn’t by accident, either—every aspect of casino design and psychology is carefully engineered to make it impossible for people to stop gambling. Read on to learn nine ways casinos use sound, lighting, and physical design to make you keep betting and spending, even when the house always wins.
When you walk into a casino, it’s hard to tell what time of day or night it is. That’s because casinos have a special tint on their windows and use lights to create a consistent environment that tricks your brain into believing it’s the same time of day as the outside world. You’ll also never see a clock in a casino, because the people who run it want you to lose track of how much time you’re spending there.
Casino is Martin Scorsese’s most violent movie, and it’s not without its shock value. But the violence isn’t purely for style or shock value—it’s based on real-life events that took place in the city where the film was set. While many Hollywood films and television shows only show the party side of Vegas, Casino digs deep, revealing the city’s past ties to organized crime and how opulent and seedy it can be. In addition to the sleazy underbelly of the city, Scorsese’s film gives viewers a glimpse of what it’s like to play in the games.