According to the book, “Billion Dollar Casino ,” by John Grochowski, the mathematics of probabilities and psychology are intertwined to create a game that is very difficult to beat .
Grochowski explains how casinos create an environment that is almost impossible to win . The book explains six methods that casinos use to keep you gambling:
Rig the Wheel
In addition to rigging the table games, they also rig the roulette wheels, dice , and other games to ensure that players lose .
Create a Sense of Luck
They hold competitions where consumers can win prizes such as free hotel rooms or discount packages. In essence , they create the illusion that anything is possible .
Make Luck a Prerequisite
The easiest way to create a gambling atmosphere is to make the slot machines pay . They also set up games that require skill , but don’t require luck.
Set Up a Loss Limit
Some casinos don’t allow you to bet more than a certain amount of money. Alternatively , some casinos only allow you to make so many bets before asking you to take a break .
Create a Loss Culture
This is almost an extension of the last method , in that the casino has created a culture where players are encouraged to keep gambling until they have lost all their money .
Set Up a Win Limit
This is similar to the loss limit , except that you are not allowed to keep winning .
Casinos also have psychologists on staff who can study gamblers and determine their weaknesses. They use these weaknesses to set you up to lose .
The book details how casinos use all of these methods to set up an environment that is hard to escape .
1 . The Rake
The rake bk8 is a fee that casinos charge to each player. The casino charges this fee because the casino wins more often than the players do. Basically, the casino is betting with your money , and winning more money than you are losing over time .
In order for this to work, the rake must be high enough to make you lose more money than you are winning over time . In other words , it needs to be higher than the house edge.
Because the rake is so significant, players are often encouraged to play multiple tables. In fact , the casino needs you to bet on multiple tables so that players can lose more .
If players stop playing the tables, then the house edge is too high and the casino will lose money . By encouraging players to wager on multiple tables , the casino ensures that the player loses more money over time than they win.
2 . The Wheel
The wheel is the most important part of the casino. It determines how much money you win or how much you lose on a game .
The wheels in the casino need to be balanced so that they don’t favor one side over the other . However , the casino also needs to ensure that the wheel doesn’t favor one specific number over the others.
If one number is favored over the other numbers , the casino needs to set that wheel up so that the player will lose more than they win .
The wheel also needs to be balanced so that the dealer isn’t favored over the player .
3 . The Jackpot
The jackpot is the most coveted reward in a casino. It is the ultimate prize you can win in a casino .
Casinos rely on the fact that people play slot machines because they expect to win something back , no matter how little the prize might be .
If you don’t win anything back , then you are likely going to leave and the person you play next to will win the prize instead .
If you keep losing on the slot machines , the casino offers you such small prizes that you probably won’t even notice that you are losing so much money . Instead, you will just keep going because the value in the jackpot is so enticing.
4 . The Game
There are so many games that you play when playing in a casino that it is easy to forget which ones you won or lost on . However , it is so important to remember that all of these games have a house advantage.
The house advantage is the difference between the true odds and the payout odds . In other words , it is the amount of money the casino wins from you over time compared to the amount that you won.
Most of the games you play in a casino have a house advantage between 5% and 20% , which means that every time you play these games you will lose more than you win .
However , there are some casino games that have lower house advantages. These games include blackjack and video poker because they have lower house advantages than slot machines .
However , even these games have house advantages because they involve skill . If the casino knew exactly which hand you were playing, they would be able to determine exactly how to rig the game to your advantage.
5 . The Atmosphere
One of the main reasons why people gamble is because they feel that they have no control over the outcome. In other words , they feel like they have “luck” on their side and are able to influence the outcome .
Casinos capitalize on this feeling by setting up games that require skill and luck . However , they also give you the impression that the outcomes are determined by chance only.
They do this by setting you up to lose and setting up games that favor the house .
6 . The Dealers
Dealers are one of the most important aspects of a casino . They are responsible for setting the games up so that you have an even chance of winning.
The dealers also determine which hand you’re playing , which makes you feel as if you are doing better than the casino does .
The dealers are also responsible for making sure that you don’t win too much or lose too much at any given time . If the casino allowed you to win too much , then you would be less likely to leave.
7 . The Luck of the Draw
One of the most problematic parts of gambling is the feeling that you are not in control of the outcome . For example , if you play a game with a house advantage of 5% and you bet that red will beat black by 10 to 1.
After a while, you would have lost $100 with every single bet you made. However , you would continue to play because you didn’t notice that you were losing a lot of money with every single bet .
The beauty of gambling is that there are so many ways to lose your money that you don’t even realize that you are losing in the first place .
8 . The Rules
Contrary to popular belief , casinos aren’t entirely random. They are actually designed to make certain outcomes more likely . This is so that they can make money while ensuring that players lose.
