Classic casinos are a self-contained world of their own, where time seems to stand still, and national distinctions disappear. As Terry Pratchett already wrote about libraries: it seems that they are places where borders and moments are crossed.

This effect is partly due to the fact that all casinos aim to keep players with them for as long as possible. Some of these tricks are already common knowledge. Nevertheless, there are other, less known tricks that experienced players can use to their advantage in order to maximize their winnings.

1. In casinos there are neither clocks nor windows

 In casinos there are neither clocks nor windows

This is perhaps the best known “secret”. Even upon entering the casino, experienced players cannot see anything in the colorful environment that indicates time is passing. The intention behind this is that visitors forget about time and simply drift at the craps or roulette table.

2. Analog vs. digital slot machines

The slot machine offers one of the classic ways of playing and it has not lost a bit of its appeal over the years. Something about its appearance with lights and sounds is very satisfying. However, not all machines are built the same way: The earlier levers have been replaced with buttons. The reason for this is that the latter method of play allows games to unwind much faster.

Nevertheless, there are still differences even between the new models. Besides the ordinary coin-operated machines, the giants of video gaming have long occupied a dominant place in casinos. Digital slots attract much more attention because they have huge screens and emit a barrage of lights and sounds. Nevertheless, these machines seem to pay out much smaller winnings than the leveraged models. The reason for this is that the maintenance costs for the newer machines are high and they also take up double or triple the space of the analog models. The experienced player or gambler will choose an analog model, which may seem less appealing, but is undoubtedly more lucrative than the video slot machine.

3. Know your rights

Casino security guards are made up of private employees, not representatives of the law, so they don’t have the same powers as the police. For example, a casino guard does not have the right to ask you to empty your pockets or search you – unless you have agreed to it beforehand. Although they may conduct identity checks, they may not, under any circumstances, withhold your lawful documents. In the event that an authority figure at the casino asks you to do so, it is good to know that casino security personnel may only detain you for as long as it takes the police to arrive and only if there is an attempt to commit an offense or its execution is caught in the act. Another important detail that is often forgotten is that these security guards have authority in the casino alone and have no authority outside of it.

4. Winnings as tickets

Back to the slot machines: It will have happened to more than one player that instead of paying out a handsome win in coins, the machine issues a ticket that can be exchanged at the cashier or at a machine.

What is the reason for this? The principle is the same as exchanging chips to play roulette: Behind the excuse that this is more convenient for the player is the plan to detach the player from the reality that he is playing with money.

Psychological studies have shown that people are much more likely to make a meaningful bet if they have the money in the form of tickets or tokens rather than coins or bills. This information is important for gamblers to manage amounts of money they want to wager.