When you step inside a casino, it’s almost as though you are stepping into another world. Glittering lights, clinking coins and the sound of cheering players fill the air with an intoxicating energy. Even jaded individuals can be captivated by the sheer spectacle of it all. There’s something about the combination of chance, fast-paced action and the adrenaline rush that comes with winning that makes people flock to casinos.
While it’s easy to think of casinos as a place for gambling, it is important to remember that they are also businesses that seek to profit. As a result, there are a number of built-in advantages that ensure the house will win in the long run. This is referred to as the “house edge.” The more time you spend playing, the greater your chances of losing money.
In addition to the obvious technological measures, casinos invest a large amount of time and money in security measures. This includes surveillance cameras, security personnel and rules of conduct that encourage players to act in a certain way. The rules of a game, the manner in which the dealer shuffles and deals cards, the location of betting spots on the table and other factors all create predictable patterns that make it easier for security to spot anything out of the ordinary.
As for the people who visit casinos, they tend to be a fairly diverse group. You have your regulars who strut their stuff and expect to walk away with a huge jackpot, you have those who are trying to recoup what they lost last round and there are always those who just want to have a good time. Regardless of the reasons they are there, however, most casino visitors share one common attribute: they have a great time.
While demographics can help identify the characteristics of a typical customer, they’re not as helpful when it comes to predicting what types of services and products they may need or want from your business. For example, a group of women at your casino could be visiting to celebrate a bachelorette party or they could be on a business trip with an hour to kill between meetings. Either way, you’d still like them to spend some money on entertainment, food and non-gaming amenities.
In addition to his usual edgy style, Scorsese injects some welcome humor into Casino. Perhaps the most memorable sequence is a scene that riffs on the Copacabana interlude in Goodfellas, with Ace and Nicky watching their money being counted by a crew of men who are eager to skim off some of the cash. As with Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls a few years later, the movie captures a sense of nostalgia for Sin City’s heyday and a healthy skepticism about what will replace it.