7 Uncommon Questions About Casinos Answered

Once in a while, I’ll come across a few unusual and unique questions about casino topics. In this post, I tried to come up with seven of the more uncommon questions about casinos so that I could answer them for you.

A lot of casino old-timers might think that the answers to these queries are obvious, but if you’re new to the casino gambling scene, they’re anything but.

Here are some answers to seven unusual questions that beginners might ask about casinos.

1 – Do Casinos Make Mistakes?

Casino dealers are humans and sometimes, they do make mistakes. They’re generally well-trained and closely supervised, but that doesn’t mean they won’t occasionally mess up when paying off a winning bet. They might even treat a winning bet as a loss.

What should you do if your dealer makes a mistake? Well, my answer is simple:

It depends.

If the casino dealer makes a mistake in your favor, I suggest you keep your mouth shut about it. Casinos make plenty of money. You’re not in management, and you probably don’t have any equity in the casino. (You MIGHT own a small amount of a specific casino’s stock, but I still don’t think it’s enough that you should correct a dealer’s mistake that benefits you.)

On top of that, the casinos aren’t on your side. They already have a mathematical edge that they’re fanatical about keeping.

But on the other hand, if the dealer makes a mistake to your detriment, you should absolutely bring it up quickly and firmly.

Depending on the dollar amount, the pit boss might have to take a look at the tape from the “eye in the sky” to determine if you’re correct about the mistake. If you’re right, you’ll usually get the money that’s coming to you.

Does this seem like a double standard?

Maybe, but I’m not in the business of helping the casino exploit its edge against me. They can take care of their mistakes, and I’ll take care of mine.

2 – Do Casinos Cheat?

Many people I know are convinced that casinos cheat. I have a friend who is 100% convinced that casinos control the outcomes of every game in the casino except for craps. He contends that it’s impossible for a casino to cheat at craps.

I tried to explain to him that the games are truly random, and the difference between the payouts and the odds of winning are more than enough to ensure that the casino makes a profit in the long run. In fact, I explained to him that the casino doesn’t really have any motivation to cheat.

His reply was simply to say, “Greed.”

When I explained to him that casinos are heavily regulated, he insisted that the regulatory agencies are in on it.

You can’t win with that kind of guy.

But the truth is simple:

Casinos don’t cheat.

They don’t have to because of the built-in edge.

3 – What Is the “Eye in the Sky?”

The eye in the sky refers to any of the surveillance cameras in the ceilings found above gaming tables. All the action at all the tables is recorded for posterity. At any time, casino management can view the tape of the action to ensure that players (or casino employees) aren’t cheating.

You can’t watch the tape, though. The casinos only allow their employees to view the recordings. No amount of insistence or arguing on your part will change their mind either, so don’t bother trying to convince them otherwise.


The casinos have been using these surveillance cameras for years.

Consider the eye in the sky another good reason to avoid cheating the casino.

And don’t worry, I’ll have more to say about that later in this post.

4 – What Do Casinos Do to Get You to Gamble More?

One of the popular myths about real money casinos is that they pump oxygen into the casino so that you’re more alert and awake. The idea is that you’ll tire less easily and gamble for a longer duration.

This isn’t true. Casinos don’t pump pure oxygen onto the gaming floor. If you think about it for a second, you’ll probably realize that the reason for this is simple enough.

Oxygen is flammable—very flammable.

Pumping pure oxygen onto the casino floor would be a fire hazard like you wouldn’t believe, especially in casinos which still allow smoking on the floor.

Casinos do have techniques for getting you to gamble more. Some of these are simple, while others are more intricate.

One thing that casinos do to get you to gamble more often is to have you exchange your money for chips at the table game and credits on the gambling machines. This causes the average gambler to disassociate themselves from the money they’re potentially losing.

Another thing casinos do to get you to gamble more is rebate your losses through the players club. Sure, they give up a couple of tenths of a percentage on their edge doing this, but they also get your contact information. They use this to send you advertising, which compels you to visit the casino more often.

Also, a lot of gamblers disassociate themselves from their losses, as they compete with themselves to score points in the players’ club. I have a friend who called me to let me know he was going to the casino specifically to move from the second tier of the players club to the top tier.

He lost a lot of money in the casinos last year. I know people who earned less money last year than he lost, in fact.

5 – Should You Try to Cheat the Casino?

You should never try to cheat the casino. I’m not familiar with the laws related to trying to cheat the casino in every state, but I know that in Nevada it’s a felony to cheat in a casino. Do you really want a felony on your record? It can interfere with your career in terrible ways.

Also, you’re better than that. You can find ways to get an edge at gambling that don’t require cheating. For example, you can learn how to count cards in blackjack. That’s a legitimate advantage gambling technique that doesn’t require you to cheat the casino.

You also shouldn’t try to cheat at the poker table. You run the same legal risks at the poker table, but what’s more, you risk the ire of the other poker players. Not everyone at the poker table is dangerous.

But a lot of them are – especially when dealing with significant amounts of money.

6 – Can You Make a Living Gambling in a Casino?

Most people cannot make a living gambling in a casino. As I’ve already explained, the casino has a mathematical edge in every game. If you play a casino game long enough, you’ll eventually lose all your money to their advantage.

I have a friend who’s one of the most brilliant programmers I’ve ever met who’s absolutely convinced that he and his mother used to earn a living playing slot machines in the casino. He said she could time when the games were going to pay off.

I’m going to suggest that he’s a victim of confirmation bias. He and his mom probably did make enough money to pay some bills once or twice.

But no way did she have the secret to winning at slot machines in the long run.

If she did, he wouldn’t be writing code for a living today.

Some people can and do make a living gambling in a casino. Many of them are poker players or sports bettors. Some of them are card counters in blackjack.

They all have one thing in common:

They’re relentless about getting a mathematical edge against their opponents.

Most gamblers aren’t able to pull that off on a consistent basis. Even if they can learn to play poker at an expert level or pick winners better than the handicappers in the sportsbook, they don’t have the discipline to get it right day in and day out.

I think that if you want to make a living in a casino, you should go to dealer school and work your way up into casino management. There’s also the option of trying to get better at skill-based games, like poker, but that’s a journey that requires a lot of time and effort.

7 – Can You Take Pictures in the Casino?

In some casinos, they don’t mind if you take pictures or video on your phone. But even in those casinos, they still don’t want you making lengthy recordings or taking hundreds of pictures. They’re okay with you capturing a few memories here and there.

Above all, casinos have concerns about the privacy of the other gamblers and the integrity of their games.

And yes, some people use the cameras on their cell phones to come up with ways to cheat the casinos.

Other casinos take a harder line about taking pictures and videos. Don’t worry, though. If they don’t want you taking pictures or videos, someone working there will simply let you know as soon as they notice. If they ask you to stop taking pictures or video, it’s in your best interest to comply with their requests.

Conclusion

Those are my answers to seven of the more interesting and least common questions people ask about casinos and casino gambling. If you’re new to casino gambling, these answers should prove helpful over time. Good luck!