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Casino Environment Question

Discussion in 'Casino Gaming' started by AnabelleT, Mar 27, 2014.

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  1. AnabelleT

    AnabelleT Tourist

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    There's something about a casino (specially certain casinos) that really pull me in. I've read about the busy carpets and how there are no windows or clocks, the slot machine noises, but is there something else going on?

    I feel euphoric and somewhat hypnotized in a casino. It wasn't always like that, back when I played slots on occasion it was just fun, then I'd leave and be over it, but now it's completely different. The more I go, the more I want to go, the more I think about it, the more I want to play, the more I want to gamble.

    I'm being responsible of course, but there's even an urge to be irresponsible at times, though I don't do it.

    I feel like I've stepped into a different world where regular rules don't apply. I see people smoking indoors, dropping lots of cash on tables, walking around with chips, everyone seems a bit hypnotized, floating around, some drinking, some staring, it's a different world for sure.

    The casino hosts are very nice, they have been very nice to me at the local casino, but some of them are slightly awkward, as if they were wolfs in sheep's clothing, encouraging me to gamble, to drink....

    I don't know, I guess you could describe it as a less threatening section of hell? Is that an exaggeration? The weird thing is I'm totally into it, with every visit I've grown to love the environment and everything about it even more. I'm always excited to play Baccarat, then spend a little time playing Pai Gow Poker, and maybe learning a new game, meeting new people, etc, all the while being treated like a princess. Maybe it's actually a section of heaven :)

    Only my closest friends know I've been going to the casino three times a week, and they don't judge me for it. My parents (divorced and living on opposite sides of the country) don't know, though I don't think my dad would mind much as long as I remained responsible. I grew up thinking gamblers were naughty and it was something I wasn't supposed to do, and there's that dirty feeling about me doing it myself now, but I love it, not because I'm being a rebel, but because the business seems to have gotten its hooks in me, and the hooks don't hurt, quite the opposite! I'm actually really happy I discovered Baccarat and the weird joy of casinos!!

    So for the more experienced out there, those who have visited casinos for years ...

    What else is going on in a casino to keep you there?
    Subliminals? Brainwashing?
    Is it all in my mind? My personal perception? My excitement?
    Is it because I'm fairly new to frequent gambling and casino visits?
    Will this excitement wear down (I hope not)?
     
  2. Drambler

    Drambler High-Roller

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    I think for me the lure of the casino is that while I am there I don't think once about the regular mundane world. It's all about the next turn of the card or spin of the slot. There's definitely a certain rush that takes place when you've got a big bet out and the dealer starts throwing out the card that will determine if you've won or lost. I'm just stuck in that moment and I might as well be on another planet.

    It's great when your only worry is where the cocktail waitress might be.

    That said, I have a local casino and I never go. I like my casino trips to be more of an event or trip. LV is great since it's already divorced from reality and it's got a million places to play.
     
  3. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    I've been going to Vegas for 40 years now and damn if I don't still get excited when we are walking towards luggage claim. We lived there for a couple of years, but it is not the same feeling.

    We have a huge Indian casino 25 miles from our house and no desire to go. It is Vegas for us and we call it vacation. Other people say vacation from what, you're retired! They'll never get it.

    Vegas is our happy place 5x a year, we just don't want to live there, even after this hellish winter.
     
  4. RPMCanes

    RPMCanes VIP Whale

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    For me it was the old Caesars Palace because I'd heard my folks and aunts & uncles constantly talking about how they had the most outrageously good times there and couldn't wait to go back. And when I finally got there myself it hit me.
     
  5. topcard

    topcard Here's to $10 3:2 two-deck, $5 Craps, and $5 UTH!

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    To be all clinical and stuff, 'gambling' releases endorphins. Studies have shown that this occurs whether we win or lose, but it is more intense when we win.
    The environment lends itself to 'irresponsibility'. Think about it. You drink more because you know you don't have to drive & they keep bringing them to you with no bill! You're permitted to smoke, indoors, at the tables, while you drink and gamble!
    And, while men are almost always in this frame of mind, even women tend to be more uninhibited out there. The combination lends itself to flirting (at the very least) and many 'reckless encounters' that have minimal risk (if the conditions for both people are right).
    Add it all up, and you have the near-perfect lure that is Vegas - an escape from the mundane responsibilities of daily life (for most of us).

    Then there's the Vegas-unique smells at some places, (some good & interesting, some not so much); the outrageous behavior by groups who are all feeling a bit funny/crazy/outrageous; the 24/7 access to food & drink & gambling; the shared 'challenge' of trying to beat the casinos - which, of course, leads to even more uninhibited camaraderie with others who you might otherwise just pass up on a sidewalk at home with nothing more than a nod or a 'hello'.

    It's a playground for those of us who actually 'know better' than to be immature, but we jump at the chance to live in that world for a little while.
     
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  6. LV_Bound

    LV_Bound VIP Whale

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    It is said that Vegas is not just a place but a state of mind.
    I have been to the hard rock in Tampa and felt like I was throwing money away after putting $20 in the machine and never went back.
    But in Vegas I have no problems buying in at the Craps table for a few hundred or no problem putting a $100 in the slot machine.
     
  7. woodsie

    woodsie VIP Whale

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    Three nights a week? No judging but that's enough that you might wear it out. I'd find some other hobbies that way your casino hobby stays special.
     
  8. AnabelleT

    AnabelleT Tourist

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    This is really interesting, thank you.
     
  9. AnabelleT

    AnabelleT Tourist

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    I didn't start out that way, but that's what it is now and really I'm trying to control myself so I don't go even more often. I have a fairly flexible schedule and I do have other interests, work, friends, family, etc so I keep myself pretty busy.

    Going to the casino is still special to me, very exciting. I'm hoping it doesn't wear off. Somehow I don't think it will, but we'll see.
     
  10. DonnyC

    DonnyC VIP Whale

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    If you are going 3 times a week and have tons of loosing sessions - which is inevitable as the casino has the edge...then it probably would get old (at least for me).
     
  11. AnabelleT

    AnabelleT Tourist

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    I certainly hope I don't have "tons" of losing sessions!

    Sure the casino has the edge, but I want to keep things balanced at least :)
     
  12. Persistent Cat

    Persistent Cat Tourist

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    Like others have said already, I don't bother going to the local casino. It sucks because it's just one property, it's not ginormous, there are no free drinks, there's no world class shopping, and my car is in the parking lot and I have to work the next day.

    Vegas is a playground where my tiny attention span never lets me get bored. The bing bing bings of the slot machines energizes me, the people watching amazes me and there's free drinks. I think it always comes down to the free drinks.
     
  13. WrongWayWade

    WrongWayWade VIP Whale

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    Just one data point, but after 15 years of haunting the casinos I can count 1226 sessions. (Either slots until I'm done, changing machines doesn't create a new session, or time at one table game.) 43% of the time I walked away ahead. This seems to me to be likely to be typical.
     
  14. sindustry

    sindustry VIP Whale

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    Being local, 3 times a week is not out of the ordinary. I grew up on the East Coast where the closest casino was at least 5 hours away. I went to Vegas maybe once a year and AC maybe once every two years. Once I moved to SoCal, I quickly realized I had at least a dozen casino options, all within a hour from my house. There were times where I went to a different casino every day of the week. There were several days where I went to several casinos in the same day...roughly 30 minute drive from start casino to end casino (Pechanga to Valley View, with Pala and Harrah's in between). There were times where I went every day of the week. Game selection at my local casinos is much better than Vegas, but I still prefer to go to Vegas (only 3.5 hours away by car). You just can't beat the Vegas experience. Now I go to the locals once or twice a week to once or twice every couple weeks.
     
  15. ncfatcat

    ncfatcat Low-Roller

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    The definition of an addict is - if you can't control when you do it or once you start doing it you can't control when you stop you are an addict
     
  16. joshrocker

    joshrocker VIP Whale

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    For me it's the carefree spending. The chance, no matter how slim, that I have a chance to walk away with life changing money (no, it's never happened).

    There really is a suspension from the real world (until you start to lose of course :cry:.
     
  17. DonnyC

    DonnyC VIP Whale

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    If b balanced you mean that your win to loo ratio is even...best of luck - unless counting, or playing a + EV game, or get extremely lucky often.

    If your having fun, GREAT!!

    But a realistic expectation is that you will loose more than you win.

    It just doesn't sound like your expectations are reasonable.
     
  18. MikeOPensacola

    MikeOPensacola El Jefe

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    Biloxi is just a couple hours away with lots of casinos, several quite nice (Hard Rock & Beau Rivage). I used to go about once a month but I'd rather save my bankroll for my Vegas trips. For me the allure of casino gambling is simply going to the Mecca of it all.........Las Vegas.

    :peace: :beer:
     
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  19. Chuck2009x

    Chuck2009x VIP Whale

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    It's because you can be whoever you want to be, and you want (at least temporarily) to be someone else.
     
  20. AnabelleT

    AnabelleT Tourist

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    Thank you for all the responses, whatever it is about the casino, I can tell you they have an incredible pull on me. Maybe I was a casino owner or manager in another life, or a croupier, who knows.

    Donny, I agree that my expectations are not "realistic", I don't want them to be. I believe that if I approach Baccarat with the attitude that the odds are I'm going to be a loser, that this defeatist attitude will work against me, so I think like a winner, I expect to win! With the understanding that I might lose of course, it's a game, and in any game there's a chance of losing. The important thing is that I do it all responsibly so in the end it doesn't matter that much if I win or lose. But still, when I enter the casino, I'm thinking Winner! And I try to keep that attitude up during the entire time I'm there.

    Chuck, I like who I am, but yes, in the casino you kind of enter a weird Fantasy, so in a way you end up changing your personality a bit. I don't know. Someone needs to tell me if I behave differently in a casino or while playing, I'm so in the zone I don't notice anything and time flies!

    Ncfatcat, a friend of mine reminded me the other day to be careful, she's noticed how into the casino I've been in the past few months, how much money I've played with and how often I'm talking about it all. She also described the casino employees who've been treating me so well as "servants of the devil" lol, she's exagerating but I know what she means. Right now I have it all under control, I can afford what I've lost and I've created a budget, it's a high budget, but it's a budget, which I think is important to avoid overdoing it. In the casino I'm sort of in a trance, so I bring more than enough with me but I know when to cut off and I've told myself I'm not allowed, under any circumstances, to use the ATM machines. This should keep me fairly safe because the temptation is there and, it's safe to say, it's the strongest kind of temptation I've ever felt. Weird. But cool.

    Thanks again for participating in the discussion, guys!
     
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