After the success of Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese teamed up Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci for Casino. It’s a crime-and-drug drama set in a sleazy world where shady characters are rewarded for their criminal behavior and everything else is tossed aside. Despite the film’s truly hellacious violence—including a popped eyeball and a baseball bat beating that had to be trimmed to avoid an NC-17 rating—Casino remains a compelling story about gambling addiction.
While many people do gamble responsibly, there are others who are sucked into the compulsion to spend money that they haven’t earned. This happens even when they’re not winning. This article explores the psychological tricks casinos use to make otherwise rational people lose money hand over fist.
From the casino’s perspective, this is good news for the business. Casinos are able to offer players comps like free hotel rooms, dinners and even airline tickets if they’re big enough spenders. They can also control their patrons’ spending through the use of sunk cost fallacy and other techniques.
While these strategies have been successful for many casinos, they may not work for Millennial and Gen Z audiences. In order to attract this new group, operators need to focus on casino marketing strategies that are aimed at creating an experience. These include elevated entertainment and food options, online components to floor games, and increased mobile marketing. These tried-and-true casino marketing strategies are sure to increase discoverability and drive customer loyalty.
