The golden dream is factory made in casinos: lights, action, entertainment, free flowing booze and food, and other entertainments of a more intimate nature. All designed to keep you at the tables, because sooner or later, the house is going to win…
By Egon E. Mosum
Almost everyone at one time or another has a fantasy about winning big, getting that Royal Flush, hitting the Lotto, spinning the roulette wheel just right; getting three lemons on the slots.
For those whose tastes in gambling run more to the Bond side of things, there may be dreams of a big run at the chemin de fer table. (That’s a version of baccarat).
But no matter what the choice of wager might be, a large gambling win is a consummation devoutly to be wished by those presently sitting in the cheap seats.
The golden dream is factory made in casinos; lights, action, entertainment, free flowing booze and food, and other entertainments of a more intimate nature.
All designed to keep you at the tables, because sooner or later, the house is going to win.
But just like the fact that all that glistens isn’t gold, the casino playgrounds aren’t playing fair. And sometimes they are using loaded dice when it comes to customer come-ons.
Okay, let’s roll dem bones and see what number comes up.
The world outside may shun you as a loser, but in the casinos, you are a most welcome guest, a very important person, and everybody knows your name.
A Wharton School Business Journal article in 2009 reported ‘most casinos and slots parlors already collect some types of extensive marketing data on their customers.’[1]
They know what their customers like to eat, drink, and the games they like to play.
They know which demographic likes a particular layout, which likes a particular time slot to gamble.
By feeding these choices, the casino operators get the customer to stay longer, and have a more positive experience. All while they turn over the rent money to the casino in hopes of winning enough to buy a house for cash.
However, the only house that gets the cash is the casino that gets the customer’s cash.[2]
The bait used by casinos to reel in the fish includes ‘complimentary meals, free hotel stays, exclusive event invitations, and even cash-back incentives to encourage players to gamble more and stay loyal to a particular casino.’[3]
Casino loyalty programs provide special cards to their members, more for the benefit of the casino than the member. These cards track spending and other customer habits which can be used to siphon more money out of the customer's pocket.
However, that same trick can be turned on the casino by its own employees. ‘In one notable case, a group of casino employees created dozens of fake accounts linked to their own loyalty program cards. They then entered false data into the system to credit these accounts with millions of points, which were redeemed for cash and high-value rewards over several months.’[4]
Back to the customer and how casinos target those with gambling problems.
If you’ve ever been to a casino there are two things that you won’t find there; clocks and windows. They do not want gamblers to have any idea how long they have been trying their usually bad luck at the tables.
The layout of the casino is designed to make it difficult to find exits, but easy to see all the action taking place and the occasional winner.
Of course, the main attraction of gambling for the degenerates is not win or lose, it is the fast action. The games are designed to offer quick rewards, or at least a quick opportunity to try your luck again.
Nothing in a casino moves at a relaxed slow pace; that isn’t the road to quick and substantial profits.
Note also that gambling is a group activity. Very rarely will you see a lone gambler at a table during peak hours, and that community of bettors gives a feeling of belonging for those longing to lose their money while trying to win the house’s money.
But it isn’t only the perks and other tricks in the gambling environment that suckers in the suckers; it is the brain in the head of those suckers.
Gambling activity creates a dopamine rush in the brain similar to drugs that can do the same thing—spin the wheel, pick a card—get happy.[5]
Let’s face it the average life of the average Joe is pretty routine, boring even. But then, Joe steps into the lights and action of a casino, he’s treated as a pseudo-VIP and he has a chance (albeit small) to exit the place a rich man.
Even if he loses, it’s fast action, it’s an adrenalin flow; it’s fun and a vacation from the humdrum of everyday reality.
So Joe loves the high, loves the action and he pays for it, he really pays for it.
‘Casinos use a range of strategies that enable and even encourage gambling addiction. From targeted marketing and promotions to convenient financial access and accessibility, these tactics are designed to keep players engaged and spending money.’[6]
It’s great for the casinos, but sometimes it can be really bad for Joe, and his five million other Joes. It is estimated that in the United States there are some five million individuals who have gambling problems.
Only eight percent of them will seek help, probably the other ninety two percent are seeking their next bet.[7]
However, fifteen percent of gambling addicts will give up gambling by taking their own life, which is a very extreme form of therapy and not recommended by any medical establishment.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
Despite their little notation of ‘bet with your head not over it,’ in the fine print in their promotional marketing efforts, casinos love gambling addicts. They are a major source of recurring revenue.
Three percent of problem gamblers are in debt due to gambling in excess of three hundred thousand dollars. There are an estimated twenty-three million people in debt due to gambling and seventy percent of the small percentage of people who do seek help from this addiction at one time or another will relapse.[8]
You may be a gambling addict, or you may know one. You may have either experienced or at least observed the financial and emotional devastation that this addiction can cause, an addiction intentionally fueled by the casinos of the world.
In his work as an attorney, your author has seen people destroy their finances, their marriages and even commit crimes due to gambling addiction.
It’s a disease you wouldn’t want to bet on.
[1] HOW CASINOS FIND AND TARGET THE BIGGEST LOSERS Eliasberg & Iyengar 5/113/09 https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-casinos-can-find-and-target-their-favorite-customers-the-biggest-losers/
[2] HOW TO INCREASE THE VALUE OF EACH CASINO VISITOR https://www.trafsys.com/how-to-increase-the-value-of-each-casino-visitor/
[3] FRAUD IN CASINO REWARD PROGRAMS https://www.acgcs.org/articles/the-dark-side-of-loyalty-fraud-in-casino-reward-programs
[4] IBID.
[5] HOW CASINOS ENABLE GAMBLING ADDICTS 10/18/24 https://bircheshealth.com/resources/how-casinos-enable-gambling-addicts
[6] IBID.
[7] GAMBLING ADDICTION STATISTICS Hoffman, 6/22/25 https://www.addictionhelp.com/gambling/statistics/
[8] IBID