Why You Never Take a 90-Degree Turn in Casinos

[@nitehawk86]

My favorite game at the casino to play is to walk around the slot machines and see if you can find a single person smiling.

[@eurodoc6343]

I think you'll always lose that game.

[@usualunusualkid7149]

@@eurodoc6343 Appropriate for a casino.

[@lostbutfreesoul]

The sad part is - In Australia, a lot of casinos are nothing but Slot Machines. As my father was a gambling addict... I can tell you those angry people go home and beat their starving families.

[@oggiggs]

Why didn't you just catch your own food

[@usualunusualkid7149]

@@oggiggs Casinos typically aren't located in jungles, Einstein.

[@acf2802]

Bill Friedman sounds inspiring all right. Imagine if someone went through AA to clean up their alcohol addiction and then spent the rest of their lives coming up with ways for bars to better turn people into alcoholics.

[@soundscape26]

Totally 😄

[@phoule76]

sounds like a certain orange president we had

[@urbanchillerTM]

Judas Goat: a Judas goat will lead sheep to slaughter, while its own life is spared. Bill Friedman is a Judas goat.

[@rosstaylor5487]

"Hi, I'm John, and I used to smoke 20 a day. And for that, I recommend Marlboro Lights"

[@Nightwishmaster]

It's like a recovered heroin addict advising the pharmaceutical industry how to do a better job at hooking more customers, what kind of asshole must that guy be, holy shit.

[@lik7953]

The bellagio is truly amazing. I don’t gamble, but I still love just walking through the resort and seeing the beautiful designs around it. I’m sure it has a similar effect on many gamblers.

[@kyoxilbuzz]

Agree. It is beautiful. But still, thanks to Sam's videos, I know the odds of winning...so, I enjoy the cheap room prices, gaze at these rooms of loosers, and go to some shows...while carrying my own flask of my own stock of French red wine. Vegas is cheap!

[@michaelz.7140]

I was hiding in bellagio`s ballroom from the las vegas shooter... not so nice experience not knowing what happens and seeing thousands of police cars and police officers with tactical gears with heavy weapons guarding the doors Seeing how the crowd reacts because some other crowd was running towards us and policemen pointing machine guns at us.

[@kyoxilbuzz]

@@michaelz.7140 yeah, that sucks. I am french, so I have this "doom-cloud" above my head everytime I go to the US...is this guy armed? What should I do? I got stopped by a police car just for a random (rental car) check, and it was just the worst encounter with police forces I had in my life (including Hungary, Germany, China, Japan, Austria....). Really frightening.

[@absolemtwelve5270]

@@kyoxilbuzz if you get stopped by the police in the US the best thing to do is, move slowly, ask before reaching into any compartments for paperwork and speak as clearly and concisely about where you’re going and what you’re doing. I usually have weed on me, I’ve been stopped about 15 times and never been asked once to have my vehicle searched in the 10-15 times I’ve been stopped in the past. The police here are afraid you are going to shoot them so most reactions they have are out of fear. So keep calm, allow them to let their guard down and you’ll be fine.

[@Chlef]

@@kyoxilbuzz why was it your worst encounter with police?

[@AdmiralTymothysLootChest]

I started a job at a Casino a few months ago, and the number of people who have asked me for directions back to the parking garage is staggering. This place isn't really that big and the entrance is pretty much always in sight no matter where you're at in the casino. I now understand why. I've worked in 2 casinos so I guess I'm just used to the layouts.

[@refindoazhar1507]

Some people are just really bad at directions, i know a person who would get lost in a rectangular grid road

[@a..4255]

@@refindoazhar1507 haha

[@0Rookie0]

I vaguely remember the main pathway from deep inside a casino leading my mom and I on a long confusing path to the entrance. We had to cut across as the path didn't take us straight through. I couldn't see over the games. I wonder how true to memory it was.

[@ShaggyRogers1]

The ceiling is designed to be bland and draw your eyes down, the floor is busy and meant to drive your eyes up, ground level is full of lights and motion to overwhelm you. You get trapped looking at all the tables and rows of machines rather than paying attention to the architecture of the outskirts of the building. It should be easy enough to think to just walk around the outside edge, but everything is designed to keep you wandering around the middle.

[@tonymouannes]

I've got asked for the exit at a walmart once. Some people get lost very easily.

[@eh42]

There are only 2 ways to win at gambling. Don't. And limit. Someone once told me they went to Los Vegas every year and planned/budgeted and brought $3,000 specifically for gambling. They went in expecting to lose it all and were just hoping to make it last, not to win it back. Once it was gone, they knew that part of their entertainment was over and they did something else. If they had money left when it was time to leave, that was bonus.

[@DarkpawTheWolf]

That's what I do, too. I go in with a set amount of cash. If it's gone, then I had some fun out for a while, like any other entertainment event. If I win it back or hit a break-even point, I put it back in my wallet, and keep playing with the "free" money above my starting point, from that point on. If I lose all that, then I've actually lost nothing, and had some fun. If I am winning and get tired of where I am, I cash in with a profit.

[@jasonreed7522]

My philosophy is that videogames have already taught me that i hate it when RNG screws me over (things like a 5% chance for the AI to crit me), so why would i ever enter a building where the RNG is now affecting my actual real world money and is obviously against me as a "customer" because if it wasn't the place would be bankrupt not gold plated with the losings of countless suckers. I know if i ever was expected to participate (say for a bachelor's party) i would find an old wallet and put say 200 in it and leave the rest of my financial resources in the car so i couldn't possibly exceed the limit. Addiction is real, dopamine is a hell of a drug. (Its the reward molecule responsible for every addiction, if something triggers a happyness reward it can be addicting, especially things like sugar and salt)

[@ROGER2095]

Last time I gambled in Las Vegas I won 35c on my first pull of a slot machine. Then I left. I figure I did better than 75% of everyone else that day.

[@eh42]

@@revan552 Me too! He was a (top used) car salesman a dealership that I was working as a lot-rat at back in the early 1990's - $3K is a lot now, back then it was a small fortune!

[@leandervr]

That's the thing, gambling is a game you spend money on. It's never an investment. If you can stick a budget, sure have fun, but always expect to lose money and treat a win as a bonus and not a reason to keep going.

[@trinityy-7]

im gonna go to a casino and make a 90 degree turn

[@Ishan.khanna]

Wait that's illegal

[@GreeceUranusPutin]

No, make 2. Or any other combination that adds up to 180-degrees

[@juliusf1906]

Don't, they'll kick you out and you will get blacklisted

[@Yahudi_Killer]

@🕊️ Peace 🕊️ i dont care

[@61rampy65]

Wow, what a rebel!

[@Palmtop_User]

So i was on a cruise ship recently with a casino. For a variety of reasons i did everything in my power to actively avoid the casino. This seems to be as it was designed based on the first guys philosophies

[@maxaslagolis]

I feel like "Game Design" Is really good at keeping people who already have chosen to gamble in the casino, but playground design is better at bringing people in initially

[@brady851]

@Cipheiz You just either created a new SCP or a new way to enter the backrooms. Sounds creepy. You hear and see excitement, entering the casino hopeful for a fun time with a card dealer wishing you luck, and it was a fun time. Hours pass until you finally look at your watch, realizing you need to leave but you can never find your way out of the winding corridors of slot machines. You realize the people don't interact with you anymore, some glitching as if they were simulations. The music goes louder and the chaos of a casino grows around you as you desperately run, looking for the exit. After searching for an hour you grow weak and sit down on the floor, begging for the casino goers to help you but they give no response. Suddenly, the card dealers and security surrounds you, at first you thought they were trying to help but then you notice the abnormal faces. The faces have a long grin reaching for the ears and sunken, sleep deprived eyes. You try to fight but they are not only too much in number, but too strong. Supernaturally strong. They pin you down as the casino shuts down all around you. The music, machines, lights begin to turn off, and even casino goers seem to have disappeared. You try to scream but no sound comes out and all fades to black as the last thing you see is the face of the card dealer who greeted you as you came in.

[@icantthinkofagoodusername5564]

@@brady851 a backrooms casino level already exists. Its called level 777.

[@brady851]

@@icantthinkofagoodusername5564 sick

[@nlpnt]

@@brady851 Alternately, you keep moving into deeper and higher-stakes backrooms until, you end up in the actual back room, playing poker for cookies with the kitchen guys.

[@AlanHaskayne]

So I have to say, I have worked in casinos my entire life, including in low level casino management. It is important to consider that casinos generally take from both schools of thought when designing their layouts. The maze design mixed with a nice looking interior was what I noticed most in my time working in Indian Gaming (Native American Casinos)

[@nivekakninblarg8076]

Damn, casinos even on the reservation.

[@NotChicoAndPico]

As someone that works in a casino, this was a fun video to me. The owner actually has two casinos, and due to a series of events I won't bother explaining, each are designed differently. While they don't follow the rules to the tee, they still loosely fall into each of the explained categories in the video. The one mostly following the playground design is by far the most popular. It gets roughly double the numbers to the gaming one. While regulars more or less stick to their thing in both, the gaming one has a hard time roping in new people to come regularly, while the playground seems to be appealing enough to have people become interested and want to come back (as long as they don't lose too much on the first visit.) As an aside, most of the employees, myself included, also prefer the playground casino; the more open design makes keeping track of people easier and is just generally more pleasant to spend time in. Also, for the clock thing; it actually works damn well. Sure, some have wristwatches, but most stick to only having their phones to check time, which they often don't check since that requires active effort while they're focused on the game. So yes, if they had a clock they could just glance at the wall to see, they'd definitely spend less time in the casino. Considering that we also get a lot of elderly customers that don't even have mobile phones, the effect is so much more.

[@xheralt]

I repair atms, and one of our clients is a casino, so I see the design elements. It took me roughly 4 months of regular visits (at least 1/week) to get the building layout firmly in mind, and I had advantage of a security pass that admits me to certain employee corridors to help fill in the blanks! I also enjoy finding out back-of-house shortcuts between the various gaming areas (scattered between three floors) where I can.

[@therealgevcl]

gotta love my weekly dose of stock footage

[@eurodoc6343]

There were... ahem... two particularly nice things in this collection of stock footage.

[@bigansh]

Lmao 😂

[@hoodzzeee]

Bruh, you still whatch YT? YT is the new Audible.

[@therealgevcl]

@@hoodzzeee maybe I'm just old idk perhaps i should go back to watching smosh lol

[@dillonmoore9810]

@@therealgevcl which food do u think will win this year??!?!

[@Ishan.khanna]

People who say "you've lost the moment you step in" are wrong , we lose the moment we go over 21

[@MiguelAngel-fw4sk]

Two bots in a row. Now three: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qn7GcnSvmdF6fac

[@justarandomtechpriest1578]

That's Wow 4 bots

[@Jakentosh]

Make it five kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZu3amSPnt2raJI

[@Jordan-Ramses]

They can be beaten. Poker, blackjack or cheating. I did poker. Didn't get rich but I took two weeks off work because I had some extra cash. Granted I wasn't playing against the casino but I was there.

[@bilalmalik5002]

Funny, Because i've seen seemingly harmless devilish streamers run online casinos with In game items (CSGO, Rust, TF2) Where there is no age verification and the skins can be purchased by real money and then exchanged for real money. Many still exist and now they even take card, How about that.

[@TonyHammitt]

I've been to Las Vegas many times but have never gambled there (I'm a mathematician...). The Bellagio is certainly my favorite of the places I've stayed, it's amazingly elegant. I do feel kind of bad that it's as nice as it is because people lose a LOT of money there, but at least some of us can enjoy it. And the shows there are great, too.

[@henrybrousseau5214]

No limit Texas Holdem (where the casino doesn’t have an edge, it’s a raked game) might be for you as a mathematician- it’s all stats

[@CeeJMantis]

Don't let being a mathematician stop you from gambling. If you can learn to count cards and calculate odds, there are ways you can tip the odds in your favor. And while card counting isn't illegal, casinos can throw you out if they suspect you're doing it. That being said you know if you don't want to gamble, or aren't willing to take the risks, that is entirely understandable and acceptable. I'm not trying to encourage gambling, but more to point out that there are fun things about gambling if you're a mathematician where you can implement that knowledge and experience if you choose to. Edit: My use of the expression "tip the odds in your favor" was meant in the colloquial sense, and not the mathematical sense of a strict advantage towards the player. Also, I'm well aware of the fact that casinos do a lot of things like having continuously shuffling decks, and designing the specific implementation of a game so that any advantages gained by card counting aren't significant enough to cause the house to lose advantage. Just trying to point out that the interaction between mathematics and gambling can be fun, and I'm not suggesting that people can win money (though in the past it was a lot easier to do such things)

[@Kokurorokuko]

@@CeeJMantis The only two acceptable games are Poker and Blackjack but they don't allow players to count cards as you said, so the casino still has an edge. That leaves us with poker but they can also restrict you from playing if you're too good. Casinos are just horrible overall.

[@cyruslever586]

@CeeJ Mantis counting cards doesn't really tip the odds in the players favor. Thats not how it works. And they don't kick you out of casinos for counting unless you're winning alot of money repeatedly. Usually they want you to stay longer and keep playing the longer you play the worse the odds. Or more likely you hit a bad run of cards. Texas hold em is good. Pai gow or black jack are also not bad if you play proper strategy and most importantly not just game strategy but betting strategy/structuring. Which is really how you make money is by structuring your bets correctly to maximize wins and minimize losses. And also getting up. Even if you can beat the game you can't beat it indefinitely you have to have a number where you leave as well as where you back out and restart. The more money you make the more tempting it is to increase your bet but that's wrong.

[@cyruslever586]

@Henry Brousseau you can actually find games that are mathematically beatable. If you find blackjack tables that have a high max bet and a low enough min bet you can use a simple progressive betting system combined with counting. I fun one is to not just use traditional card counting but also reverse on a game like Spanish black jack where you can double down multiple times. When the deck is "bad" and loaded with small cards you can double down multiple times on 12s,13s, when the dealer has a weak card showing and they won't think you're counting and you also get alot of money on the table when you have a high probability of winning.

[@jackdog06]

0:12 team cherry really been working on Silksong since Palaeolithic period.

[@steverempel8584]

I've been to a casino, to check it out, even though I don't gamble. What I was most impressed with was how there was no clocks, no windows, and everything was open 24 hours, so there was no way to tell the time. I'd love to stay at a non-gambling resort like that. A "Timeless" Resort, Literally. A way to put yourself in a world where you don't keep track of time, and can go get food, or drinks, at any time you want. Sleep when your tired, wake up when your done, forget about the sun, and the clocks!

[@Totally_Bonkers]

i mean once you got out your sleep schedule would be literally ruined, as well as your body's internal clock and stuff. cool concept, though.

[@Squirt4757]

Hotel California

[@aviniris9158]

lotus casino

[@MannyXVIII]

There should honestly be a big disclaimer both here and in casinos that says "if the casino thinks you are earning too much, it has the right to ban you from the premises .. and they talk with other casinos" because while it isn't cheating to for example count cards in black Jack, casinos don't like loosing money.

[@schwingedeshaehers]

It depends, and the question is how much is to much? 1000 dollar? 10k? 100k?

[@frackitos]

I don't think it's possible to count cards anymore (or at least it doesn't give as much of an edge), if I'm not mistaken casinos use multiple card decks to prevent it. But yeah it's kind of wild that they will ban card counters even though technically they still have the advantage lmao

[@justins8802]

@@frackitos It’s less about the 7-deck shoe, than about how frequently they reshuffle it. Some casinos even have shuffling machines reshuffle after each hand. Also the way you make money counting cards is to bet small when the count is against you and big when it’s favorable. They limit this by having a tight range per table between the minimum and max bets.

[@Spartan0430]

@@schwingedeshaehers it doesn't even matter if you're losing money, if the casino suspects you of not being a brainless addict there's a chance they'll just kick you out.

[@RalphInRalphWorld]

@@schwingedeshaehers if you win big and tell your friends, that's good for the casino too, so there's definitely a fine line

[@zshall48]

The editor of this video must have had a field day with all the fun effects and visual jokes!

[@SuperSerferNow]

Yes

[@SeanTBarrett]

especially the visual joke of including lots of stock footage of taking 90-degree turns in a casino

[@matthewdrummond1340]

When I was a slot attendant at my local casino we had like a 97% payout rate. Thing is that if you play $1 and "win" 5 cents they count that 5 cents as a payout even tho you lost 95 cents.

[@redbean9410]

That’s why they don’t say 97% profit rate

[@EebstertheGreat]

97% payout just means that the slots pay out 97% of what was put in over the long term. The other 3% is the house edge. Seems pretty straightforward to me.

[@john40539]

@Cipheiz Could be wrong but my understanding is that the machines are programed to have x% average payout rate with each play. There is no period of time when it has to meet a goal, and thus will be more generous if it is below the payout quota. Each play has independent fixed probability of win and loss, and there are no "streaks". As such, there is no point in even trying that method. Just sit down at one that looks like it will give you a good endomorphin rush from playing, and try your luck!

[@EebstertheGreat]

@@john40539 Historically, slot machines operated with simple mechanical rules and the payout depended on the current state of the reels and the time you pulled the lever. It was possible on some insecure machines to predict the next symbol on the leftmost reel if you knew its initial position, with a lot of practice. (The outcome also depends on exactly how you pull the lever, which makes this method difficult.) But that still doesn't work the way Cipheiz claims. Modern slot machines use chips with pseudorandom number generators. Ideally, these should produce numbers uniformly at random and independent of any earlier number. In reality they are not perfectly unpredictable, but since they are generated continuously (even when no one is playing) and are not visible to the player, they are effectively impossible to predict. Because the slot machines are often implemented in software, it is absolutely possible to program a machine to never pay out two jackpots in close proximity, or to do whatever else you want. The code for these machines is not open source, making it difficult to confirm that this isn't done. However, many people who have worked on such machines, as well as many gamblers, many casino owners, etc. all seem to confirm that they are pretty much random. Moreover, at least in most states, this is a legal requirement. The same should apply to other games like video poker. Of course, not every casino game works this way. In blackjack, cards are dealt from a shoe, so the probability of winning the next hand changes as the composition of the shoe changes. In blackjack, if a bunch of aces were just dealt, that really does mean it's much less likely that another ace will be dealt next hand (unless that's the last hand before a shuffle, or they use an autoshuffler). So that's why blackjack is beatable. But slots, it seems, are not.

[@lostbutfreesoul]

There was a lotto system based on this concept, a 100% win rate. Two catches - Most winnings where less then the ticket, and you couldn't redeem for a few years. This Lotto made Brittan a small fortune....

[@joermnyc]

“It’s hard to leave when you can’t find the door.” -Joe Walsh The Las Vegas Monorail is great… until you have to leave through a casino floor and the layout doesn’t give you a straight line from the backdoor (where the monorail is because it runs behind the resorts on the East side of the strip before veering off to stop at the Convention Center, what used to be the Intercontinental Hotel, and finally dead ends at what used to be the Sahara, but that station thankfully has a staircase exit so you don’t have to walk through the casino (which is technically across the street from the monorail terminus) and the street outside. (Note, the MGM also has a direct entrance from the street-ish… it’s an elevator in the driveway).

[@claytonberg721]

The trams are like that too, between mirage and park MGM. It's only a couple thousand more steps to walk from the mirage to the park MGM vs taking the tram system oddly enough.

[@toastnjam7384]

Ex dealer here. I used to work at the Golden Nugget and when Fertitta Entertainment bought it in 2005 they did a major remodeling. Almost half the casino was closed off with a dust containment curtain during this and then they closed the other half when that side was done. The noise from the jackhammers and cement saws was deafening and yet the casino was always packed which got me thinking, why spend millions when these folks would gladly play in a barn.

[@eslin2845]

The addicts will play in a barn but its not a good setting to get new people in and potentially addicted

[@deep.space.12]

Geometrically, without 90-degree turns, you will always have another gambling equipment in your line of sight instead of walls and exits.

[@jakebyday]

Love how brilliant teaches you how to get blacklisted from casinos lmao

[@Max-Blast_Media]

One of my low key bucket list items, if I ever go to a casino, I intend to not be allowed back. Lol

[@quillmaurer6563]

Getting blacklisted from a casino is about the most profitable interaction you could have with one. For one ting it means you're winning too much, for another it means you won't be gambling away any more of your money.

[@Jordan-Ramses]

It's easy to spot cheaters. They're the ones winning. But I used to play poker and whenever I went to cash out my chips there was never a line :) The girl behind the window was usually reading a book.

[@C4Oc.]

Card counting is real, and you can gain about 0.5% to 1% edge

[@Erikakaisermd]

Basic strategy in blackjack reduces the house advantage but doesn't eliminate it. Casinos don't care if you even have that strategy printed on a card in front of you. Counting cards on the other hand . . .

[@RagingAcid]

Im a gambling addict. Very useful advice

[@gteixeira]

He never advised to stop gambling.

[@jak7826]

@@gteixeira exactly

[@ethanstahel4822]

you, stop that

[@sonman3694]

Gamble no more

[@djnikzamora]

When does your book come out?

[@brianlance]

a few years ago, we did a day in Las Vegas on our way to the grand canyon. We parked at the MGM Grand. It literally took us almost an hour to get from where we parked and through the maze of the casino to find the exit to Las Vegas Blvd. At one point as we passed by the entrance from the parking garage, I told my wife let's just leave while we have the chance.

[@dmac7128]

One thing about the lack of 90 degree angles is that it makes casinos easy to walk in, but harder to find the exit once inside. On a side note, Ikea designs their stores like that for the same reason, to get their customers to part with their money.

[@OreoPriest]

No, Ikea designs their store so it's one single straight line that takes you past all the merchandise. It's never hard to find the exit in an Ikea, it's always just a very long walk forwards or backwards. It only gets confusing if you try to take shortcuts.

[@dumbbell1231]

I have only visited a casino in Macau (the Venetian), just out of curiosity. Besides building the casino in a complex that provides hospitality, entertainment and retail services, the Venetian also build the casino on ground floor, near the main entrance and between atria. Except for the security guards at the entrance, it doesn't look like it's a completely fenced off part of the complex. If you for some reason don't want to go through the casino, you have to take a detour in order to go to the other side, which involves taking a series of stairs or escalators that go one or two levels above it. Once inside, the rather straight carpeted hallway opened on both sides, housing the machines and tables with countless people. If you are not aware you may get curious and go over there to be sucked into it. There are no attendants pestering you (a sharp contrast from the overburdening shops) and the overall dimmed atmosphere makes you lower your guard. It is an inconspicuous way of "luring" people without being overtly so. And I have to admit seeing everybody doing the same thing put some inexplainable "peer pressure" on me to join the crowd. Fortunately I didn't.

[@victoriahewitt9938]

My parents took us to a casino as kids. They couldn't legally have "gambling" for kids so they worked around it by creating a huge area of basically carnival games with displays of amazing prizes. We were each given $5 & told to use it however we wanted to. It was to teach us about why gambling is a bad idea. It was a good lesson for me, as I quickly blew the money & got nothing. My brother found an arcade & spent the day happily blasting away. In the end he still had money left over & gave it to me for a final game. My parents were so frustrated that he hadn't blown the money & learned the lesson I learned! I think he was just smart & knew what was worth spending his money on! The no clocks really screwed us up. 2am felt like 2pm. Accidentally kept staying up half the night.

[@K3end0]

Tbh, your brother did indeed learn a lesson. Rule 1 of Gambling is don't gamble in the first place, and he learned his money was better spent using it on a different form of entertainment (the arcade instead of the carnival games). The fact he came to the conclusion he could get a day's worth of games out of his money from an arcade vs just a few rounds of claw machine is a lesson well learned.

[@victoriahewitt9938]

@@K3end0 Very true! Didn't look at it like that. :)

[@iainballas]

I think it'd be fun to, for example, legislate in Nevada that all casinos need to provide natural light to all areas (sunroofs/windows), have prominently displayed clocks in every area, and require that gambling be done using cash instead of tokens (chips, tickets, scrip, etc). Watch as a multibillion dollar lobby starts spending exorbitant sums of money to prevent this, then howls in protest that it will shut down their business if it goes through.

[@CalculatedRiskAK]

Then complain that their existing designs are for the safety and security of their customers.

[@lostbutfreesoul]

Why do you think this lobby hasn't already done so, but done so successfully? Good luck getting the Legislate in Nevada to do what you requested....

[@Redskies453]

Lol why would they do that? The taxes that fund the gov come from the casinos. They're on the same team.

[@aking9756]

A lot of casinos have natural light in some places. People have watches and phones. If they don’t know what time it is that’s on them. And technically cash is used. When you sit at a table you have to use cash to get chips. That’s money gone out your pocket. When you play a slot machine you have to put cash in. You only get a ticket when you want to take your money out. Casinos don’t need to trick people. There are lots of people willing to gamble away their money. There are people who show up everyday. If anyone gambles away all their money. That’s their fault. It’s not because they were tricked.

[@ROGER2095]

Sorry, Comrade. Nevada's still in the USA - the land of the free.

[@Helladamnleet]

This actually makes a lot of sense because a couple years after the Bellagio was built my local casino did a complete interior remodel to basically do exactly what the playground model does.

[@CatsMeowPaw]

I've been in many casinos, but Sydney's Star Casino in Australia had multiple tiny entrances that were well hidden. I could find my way in, but I actually had to ask the staff how to get out again. The main entrance was for cars only, had no footpath, and forbid people walking out on foot. Who knows how well this would work during an emergency, such as a fire...

[@graymonk5972]

the few times i’ve been in casinos as a kid i’ve always found them really disorienting because there’s never a clear straight pathway. i wonder if it fucks things up of you need to evacuate the building or need an EMT to get to someone

[@tuhaggis]

Security meet EMT at the street and escort them to the incident location. Most people evacuate by attempting to leave the way they come in - you just need some staff in high vis outfits directing people. Once the alarms go off, people want to know what happened and what they (might) need to do. It's easy controlling crowds in that situation as they are seeking out your leadership and follow each other once moving. It's actually very easy and happens more often than you think.

[@MyNathanking]

0:49: Every time I see a casino wheel like this, I wonder what it would be like to wrap a hundred feet of moderately thick yarn around the center spindle, and then, while holding one end of the yarn, walk outward in a completely straight path directly outward from the wheel. Pulling as hard as I can without breaking the yarn or damaging the wheel, I would walk outward, walking faster and faster as the wheel speeds up. By the end of the walk, and by the time the yarn reaches the end of its length on the spindle and pulls free leaving the wheel on its own inertia, the casino wheel is theoretically spinning hundreds of revolutions per minute --- possibly about as fast as a three-speed fan on low speed. Now, with the wheel spinning that fast, I wonder how long it would take for the wheel to stop spinning completely.

[@spacebassist]

I also wonder that though, these are the real things we should know about roulette and spinny things

[@barsdogukankarakoyun8798]

this video made me wanna take a 90 degree turn in a casino, I bet I can take a 90 degree turn in a casino.

[@matthewparker9276]

If anyone wants to take you up on that bet, I'll run the house.

[@katieandkevinsears7724]

I'll give you 5:2 odds that you can't.

[@jimmyzhao2673]

Don't do it. They will call security and bust your head.

[@Shea_Fresh]

Go to the bathroom, they got 90 degree walls there!

[@xthebumpx]

I bet I'd do a 180° turn if I walked into a casino

[@trentspears9118]

Only times I've gambled in casinos I bought $200 worth of chips for the whole stay there, spent 90% of my gambling time at the $5 blackjack table, and ended up with ~$170. $30 for the social experience wasn't bad IMO, but not worth planning a trip to Vegas for. I ended up spending more time walking around looking at the crazy architectures and decorations. Really was an art gallery in some ways.

[@bilalmalik5002]

I went online once. Just turned 18, But they didn't age verify anyway (Should've closed my computer and slept at this moment), I put £5 in which is litterally $6.5 and made £200 on roulette but i didn't cash it out in my state of Euphoria and kept going until i lost it all, Then i kept adding more and more until my total expenditure went to £70. I guess i was a victim of begginers luck.

[@miniepicness]

@@bilalmalik5002 rip. dont gamble but if you do then remember that sometimes not all the choices could be equally likely to win

[@stephens.3483]

Same. Played on a cruise age 18. Went in with 100 came out with 70. Fun I guess. But there is much more in life.

[@techman2553]

For my father who recently passed away due to a heart attack from the stress of the looming eviction from his home that was foreclosed because he gambled away all of this retirement money at the casinos that he kept sneaking off to instead of paying the mortgage, I'd say yeah, the confusing floor plans work pretty well.

[@paulstaley4472]

My favorite thing about his videos is the way he masterfully stitches his ads into his content. I skip ads on other channels IMMEDIATELY, but I almost always watch his ads because half the time I don’t realize it’s an ad. That’s talent.

[@vantael]

I wonder if the no clocks trick is less effective now that everyone has a cell phone

[@MinnesotaExpat]

As long as they can keep you distracted, you won't look at your phone.

[@AmyDentata]

Social media is just another form of casino, so it's a wash

[@brandonkellner4053]

Everyone used to have watches anyway. They just don't want to give you ways to keep track of time.

[@AlanHaskayne]

So I have worked in casinos for 8 years, and the no clock trick still works incredibly well. The casinos I have worked for even offer free wifi and cell phone charging, it is just that as long as reels are spinning people tend to not even use their phone clock. It is the same reason that watches never worked, if you don't want to notice the time, and it isn't shoved in your face, your eyes will naturally avoid it.

[@j134679]

Casino also offer free hotel stays & in-venue restaurant vouchers. Some have bank branches inside too. They really want you to stay there. A neighbor won the slot jackpot once, the casino added in a free 1 week stay at the hotel upstairs. They were hoping to get that jackpot back haha

[@ReedReed999]

This video has such a different tone and style than any other I've seen from you guys, but I love it The script is full of sarcasm and jokes, and the visuals are getting a little chaotic. I lost it at the Top Hits CD hahah

[@amog8202]

My proposal is open areas that become more cramped and jammed full. From the outside, a cramped trash zone is unattractive. On the inside, sparseness and comfortable conditions won't help. Nice halls and nice rooms at the front, but when you go further down the hall, the rooms turn 5o the standard.

[@ty_ciccotelli]

I live in Las Vegas. Whenever my family wants to do almost anything, we have to walk through a casino. (None of us gamble.) Never realized this. Thanks!

[@MareTranquil]

@1:54 Wait, a 9-pack of frozen pizzas costs $170? Do you guys freeze caviar-crusted lobster pizzas? I'm used to ~€4 being the upper limit for a frozen pizza.

[@mwskyrim5516]

that’s what i was thinking. i wouldn’t be eating frozen pizzas ever again if it cost me that much for 9 of them.

[@abebuckingham8198]

Wait, you're not eating caviar-crusted lobster pizza? It's really good with pineapple and corn. I swear to God it's a thing.

[@sirkwthe73rd]

i think they're talking about 9 boxes of frozen pizzas

[@lewismassie]

That moment when casinos realise treating people well is better

[@trla6505]

I like how diferent people get to this conclusion from different points, work, studies, casinos

[@ashtonhoward5582]

@@trla6505 yeah, really interesting that the numbers show what people felt the whole time: being treated well is good for everyone involved.

[@royalbirb275]

that moment when they only treat people better bc it makes them richer

[@omniyambot9876]

0:25 which is approximately 53 billion dollars more than we made at half as interesting" This is why I love Half as Interesting, they are honest and connected to their viewers and funny loool.

[@iambicpentakill971]

Honestly though, you could make 10 million and it would still be about 53 billion more. People are terrible at understanding how much a billion is

[@doratheexplorer8274]

My wife has left me because I am a compulsive gambler. But I know I can win her back.

[@katieandkevinsears7724]

I'll give you odds on that.

[@suicidesitter6527]

I bet you can!

[@TheOne_6]

bust! you got a 9, totalling 23.

[@daniel_wilkinson]

Now I want to watch "Ocean's 11" again.

[@joshuapatrick682]

The best Casino design ever implemented was the ability to refuse people who have an edge on the casino. Same with sports books, and this is okay. You can literally spend any amount of money there legally, but the second they realize you have the odds in your favor they can, and will refuse your action and become hostile. I am not one, but I have seen them trespass an advantage player before and it’s legit the most insane thing I have ever seen.

[@deldarel]

Does the playground model still not use 90 degree turns or did they overturn that rule as well?

[@sirsapphire3499]

Well, considering how that principle made traffic to an area double, and the second design philosophy was more about doubling down on the comfort and lessening the stress, they probably kept it. I mean, it did say they make 4 times the average and a curvy turn doesn't really make someone feel stressed or cramped.

[@lostbutfreesoul]

An open floor-plan doesn't require traditional turns, 90 degrees or otherwise.

[@deldarel]

@@sirsapphire3499 I too assume it is, just asking to be sure. Maybe it just worked in the old system and not in the new

[@Matando]

1:00 Sorry, haven't finished the video yet but wanted to say I love the fact that you actually used the real designs for the $1000 bank notes in the video. You got some nice $2 notes in there too, not bad.

[@quontox9247]

It would be interesting if more of these design concepts were used in grocery store, I know they already use a few, but they still mostly seem like endless rows of shelves with lots of corners.

[@josiahmartin329]

Grocery stores also worry about the efficiency of stocking and organizing. Having nice rows helps with this.

[@peytonkirby9636]

I work at a casino and always wanted to know why it was such a hassle to walk through the casino floor.

[@cityraildude]

Did you know that in Australia, it's illegal to have a casino without clocks

[@3rdalbum]

Is it? I've never noticed a clock on Crown Perth's gaming floor - not that I've spent any real time there, mind.

[@cityraildude]

@@3rdalbum Well it is in NSW anyway. Not sure about WA

[@jimmyzhao2673]

There are also no clocks inside a Starbucks.

[@bignerd3783]

based australia

[@karnewarrior]

It strikes me that part of the reason Playground Design seems to be working now is because all the competition on the Friedman design consists of tight, smoky rooms with a glitzy smarmy sort of dirty air to them, which was initially new and exciting and kinda dangerous but after a couple decades just became grundgy and yuck. Most likely, it's best to flip-flop between the designs, either along a timeline (i.e. some years the Casino is laid out in a Friedman design and others in the Playground layout) or maybe spatially, using the Playground design in pockets to provide down-time areas to relax in, and entrances to bring in players, and the Friedman design to hold current gamblers in that good old Lotus Eater haze.

[@ileutur6863]

1:24 the footage shows several 90 degree turns being made

[@JulianFischerJulesBarner]

I think there is another thing to those two design principle, the playground model targets the average tourist, the design principles in the other guide are pretty much targeting addicts (gambling equipment beats normal decoration, seriously?) So he probably wrote down what triggered his responses as a fresh guide which makes the design principles infinitely more nefarious given his background. It's like a dry alcoholic advising bars on how to generate more customers by designing certain drinks or whatever (which, I am sure has happened somewhere sometime?)

[@hwcfelix]

1:09 Perhaps I should have a clock and open the curtain when watching KZbin

[@gormauslander]

I had wondered why the Luxor hotel separated the atrium from the gambling area which is one floor down, until I read that principle "low ceilings beat high ceilings". It all makes sense now. This "game principle" also explains why I hated being in every Casino designed by this principle, but really enjoyed being at the Bellagio

[@NovaGirl8]

I went into casino once. it wasn't very big but with how the floor layout was designed, I was easily confused and lost my bearings. I had to find a wall to be able to find the right exit that I wanted to initially find when I went in.

[@eugenesis8188]

Huh. I'm a trucker, and casinos both often have truck parking, and are much more scenic than truck stops, so I spend a lot of time at them. I don't gamble at all, but I have definitely noticed a lot of casinos are easy to get lost in. I actually usually get intimidated walking onto the floor there because it's so unwelcoming, I've just never thought about why. It's like entering a labyrinth sometimes, and I'm definitely aware of what it's designed to do, I just didn't realize how manipulative the design could be.

[@SylviaRustyFae]

Funny thing is the one casino i can remember that ive been in completely contradicts this video xD Everything was setup in rows and rectangles and squares prty much with the usual rounded tables just to the side of large walking paths. It had a very open floor plan compared to most casinos and was designed very differently from those in like Reno or Las Vegas. Not sure if it was bcuz it was more of a hotel with a casino attached or it was cuz of fire code related laws or what. I kno ive been in casinos before as i visited vegas when i was like 12, and i def remember a feelin of them being very cramp comparatively and much more overloading; tho the one i went to around Pendleton OR wasnt like that at all.

[@jameslockwood8008]

Next time you go to a casino, check out the carpet. Odds are very good it has a wacky, disordered geometric pattern on it that probably contributes to eroding your sense of direction.

[@DereC519]

"Approximately 53 billion dollars more than we make!" Got me

[@FentonHardyFan]

My younger sister and I once went to see a show at a casino. We got SO turned around trying to find our way out to where we had parked. And while it was happening, I thought it was likely the place had been designed that way on purpose. Normally I love exploring buildings, but seeing all the grim people throwing away their money kinda sucked the fun out of it.

[@texanfournow]

I am going to go to a casino and practice making 180-degree turns.

[@Puddlesoak]

Whoever put the sponsorblock filler segments on this video is a mad lad

[@neonbunnies9596]

I feel like there's a "cold? Go to the corner, it's 90 degrees!" joke here, but I'm too lazy to come up with it

[@texaswunderkind]

I made the mistake of taking the Las Vegas monorail once. We got out in the back of Imperial Palace, and it took forever to wind our way through the labyrinth of unmarked paths, corridors, wrong turns, dead-ends, and whatnot to get the hell out of there.

[@AnnoyingMoose]

Bill Friedman: I have a list of design ideas that will help casinos make more money. IKEA: We LOVE your book!!

[@typelogin]

I am a poker dealer and adored the video! Thanks HAI!

[@elishmittywerminghanjensen1264]

Casino book or multiple years of Nebula subscription... hmmmm, hard choice 😂

[@GooseGooseDuck797]

Loved the nebula add drop at around the 1:50 mark

[@saltwaterdrinker]

I feel like I sometimes tune in simply for the stock footage.

[@grandpawdrip9113]

I respect you left the sponsor at the end of the video other than the nebula sponsor in the price breakdown of the book.

[@axelprino]

I guess I'm gonna trust you guys on this one. I'm in my thirties but I've only gone to the casino once because I got invited and all I did was have a walk around, find the bar, and order a pizza.

[@griffinnovie4921]

Damn, I instantly thought "is that Ted Danson" when I saw Roger Thomas and then you made that "straight to DVD joke" about a second later. That was dead on the money!

[@Nexalian_Gamer]

It's fine I'll just take a 89° turn

[@polarvortex6496]

4:15 “with giant sprawling rooms, lofty ceilings, massive skylights, antique clocks, clear sightlines, elaborate decorations, and very robbable vaults”

[@aidaaaaaaaaaaaa]

@1:30 a shit ton of 90 degree turns in the video

[@anonymousauthor4514]

How to get people to never leave a Casino. First; I don't know about nearly any of the first advise from the book. I'd imagine from just looking toward the Casino's I've operated, that would not, even remotely, end well. 1) The first key is to keep your mind distracted. This can be done by a number of ways; First and foremost is going to be free drinks, entertainment, and make it loud and bright. But, not too bright. The actual "Casino" must have dim lighting, but the machines and events must be brightened up specifically for you to see them. The ceiling must be tall, 20ft+ ceilings are important, as you want people to feel like there is "no real way to see" the ceiling to leave, so they look at the ground. The ground, namely the rug, must have a crazy pattern or design, put in a way specifically allowing the audience to get lost into it. Add in those amenities of "free drinks", and you have yourself a customer who may just see themselves as having "a little too much fun" with getting lost when their entire life is "following a direction". 2) Slot banks are crucial for attaining a concurrent audience. The principled concept isn't to "line up every machine in a row and go". You want to keep separation and space, whilst having them easily serviceable and capable of being off whilst others are on. The narrative here is to set, say 6 machines in a 3x3 'bank' and do this across the entire Casino. More expensive, alluring machines will be off on their own, right near the walkway to entice players walking to try them. Say the Game of Thrones machine, or the Silent Hill machine; Something to catch the eye of the passer-byer to say "Okay I want to try that". The banks must be within a specific set distance, but they must be offset from each other. They shouldn't, even remotely, be lined up equally aside from along a fixed wall. Creating a "maze" with the slot banks allows the players to get lost in that location, pushing them more to "just try another slot machine" verses finding their way to the floor. 3) Table Games must be in an open area, but they must be in the middle of the floors. You never want to have the most alluring "method of winning money" directly presentable to the general public. Unironically, you're equally as tracked at a table game as you are at a slot machine. You'd likely be more lucky to "win at a slot machine" than a table game, however both take a keen amount of skill to know what you're looking for, and the table games are a more traditional skill set people typically can figure out quickly (that isn't directly involved with cheating, at least). 4) The way how a Casino makes money is by keeping you there and entertained. A Casino isn't there to "steal money from you". Casino's are there to GIVE YOU A GET AWAY, a vacation -- An escape from your busy and concurrently chaotic life to give you the feeling of being a kid again. To peoples dismay; Casino's actually help people more often than not, and many casino's around the globe have made various efforts in the last decade (at the advent of technology) to try and stop addiction within their floors from occurring. They ban players who seem to be addicted, and they try to keep people entertained without directly causing an addiction. 5) Typically if you're a "big loser" at a Casino, it also means you end up getting a lot of specific invitations and "free" amenities at their resorts or casinos'. If you lose a lot, you may get a free meal for 4, or a free weekend hotel stay. Some get free spa and others get the entire package all for "no charge". The idea is that "You spent $xxxx here, so here is what we would consider that in our services fee". Although the Casino may only spent a few hundred, where you spent a few thousand; This is no different than the Hilton or Sheraton's stays; Which may rack to a bill in 4 digits "easily", the Casino is charging you it at the cost you provided for, inherently, having fun with your money instead of giving it to some individually wealthy person. 6) Employees at Casino's typically are paid higher than everywhere in the adjacent region's sector. If you have a Hotel staff at the Casino, they're likely paid more, and with tips, verses any counterpart position. Moreover, anyone in the Table Games or Slots departments may obtain significantly higher wages than what their actual education may be provided for. Dealers make far more money verses their amount of time spent "in school/training" and bosses in these sections make up in the 6 figures. Management and Directors are obtainable by normal staffing at Casino's, allowing someone to feasibly "live the dream" if they're a lifer; And they could actually obtain a 7 figure salary from what would have originally been "starting at minimum wage". One could legitimately argue that yes, Casino's are a great way to "waste your money", they at the very least give back to the community by providing beneficial work places and wages to their employees, and consistently repay the customers by giving them a taste of their childhood, far after they reached the expiry age of acting like that. 7) To continue on with point above; Casino's are "known for old people" in the US. The problem isn't what you think; It's that "older people" have the most money. Casino's actually just attract people that have money to spend or who want to "waste their money to gain money". One could legitimately make an argument that the lottery is a form of gambling, along with the stock market. All of these are "pretending to be for the working class" but aren't entirely. The lottery is designed for the working class, but it's also designed to inherently put hope that "if the working class puts in $1,000 a year, they too could potentially become a millionaire for a 0.005% chance of winning". Whereas the Casino, you may put $1,000 in, but you'll always receive, at the minimum, amenities and various "luxury" things for your generous offerings. I hope this helps people understand the points here. Casino's do this specifically for you to have fun. For you to get lost, and let lose. For you to experience "life" again, when your life, as a 35+ year old adult, has turned into a 9-5 'suit and tie almost retired' hell. They do this for YOUR enjoyment, and for YOUR get away. This is why you book at a Casino or a Hotel with a Casino near by -- It's essentially a 1980's arcade for adults, except put it to the modern era. Times changes. At one point, this would have been valid. But that point has been gone for over 20 years.

[@mmxbass]

@5:00 Do you want to get the full edge in your blackjack game? Sign up for Brilliant and learn to count cards!

[@manishkumavat8831]

Man !! I really love the narrators sense of humour always makes me 😁

[@james2042]

Lmao so they took the advice of a gambling addict who had no self control and is super impulsive, and would gamble in a burning building if it increased his odds. No wonder the last casino does so much better lmao, making it a desirable place to stay

[@ReaverLordTonus]

The casino i frequent actually has long straight paths with 90 degree turns and intersections. But they are the main paths, linking you to the various haming areas, restaurants, and the hotel. If you go off the path, then you're in a maze of machine banks. Its like walking through a forest on a trail, you look to the left or the right and you can only see so far between the trees, in this case the machines, so you getna sense of depth and scale. I feel like this triggers your sense of curiosity. A desire to go off the path to explore or attempt to find a shortcut, thus luring you into the labyrinth.

[@pleasedontwatchthese9593]

Casinos always felt like video game maps

[@TheJlt14]

Winstar up in Oklahoma (i live in Dallas) totally has a 90 degree turn about halfway down... It's also the largest casino in the world, so maybe they needed that turn to keep a smaller footprint 😂

[@jondoolio]

I feel like this video told too many jokes and didnt give the actually interesting information quick enough until the middle and also gave too little of it, its kinda infuriating

[@firestorm147]

thats why its called half as interesting

[@Terri_MacKay]

Nevermind casinos....I'm in my 50's, and I want to go to that playground in the video. WOW!!

[@thebookwasbetter3650]

When you realize that much of the research on the human brain is done for marketing purposes.

[@joaoricardo9174]

Fun fact and totally unrelated but also quickly mentioned in the video. One of the people who helped popularize wrist watches was Santos Dumont, who invented the first airplane capable of takeoff using its own power. He asked a friend to custom make one so he could check flight performance while keeping both hands on the controls

[@mbergstrommedia]

But this isn't about logistics involving aviation? Oh that the Wendover guy, never mind!

[@andymiller6661]

Aviation logistics.

[@DanQZ]

I really like the dry humor on this channel, whoever's writing good job bro

[@lonesomealaskan2599]

Can we all appreciate the fact that Half as Interesting never disappointed us with his content 😊 👏

[@ericthompson3982]

"Sexual harrassierre" may be the most brilliant piece of writing I've heard in a while.

[@stefanietaushanoff3079]

Disagree with the idea that a $250 book is the path to wealth. That is a price point that serves more as a signal to nerds in very specific industries than an invite for more sales. I have several books from that genre, including a needlessly detailed look at the Eastern European display industry and a whole passel of books consisting of disjointed chapters on advanced topics sort of linked by the theme they used in the title, and not a single one of those authors is sleeping on a pile of money, at least not book-money.

[@andymiller6661]

*$274

[@johnlittle8267]

Huge fan of Roger Thomas - Bellagio and Wynn casino do just that, they make it a relaxing, luxury environment to spend time in.

[@simrock_]

170 for a 9 pack of pizzas? Has the dollar really devalued that much?

[@dabrams84]

When I was a kid I remember documentaries like this but about mall design to teach us how we were being manipulated to spend money.

[@quuaaarrrk8056]

It is actually really easy to statistically win in Blackjack Just be the house

[@barlowike9814]

You brilliantly introduced the brilliant ad!

[@gohmingyi4792]

0:20 U had to have the very epic based funny sex number huh Sam

[@HiimSpencer0808]

This guy showed up on my recommended and now I’m about to speed run his entire channel