Casinos are an immensely popular industry, yet they’re often associated with myths and misperceptions about them ranging from innocent missteps to sensationalized Hollywood portrayals of casinos and gamblers.
Some believe that winning on a slot machine increases its odds of paying out again – this belief is known as the Gambler’s Fallacy and it is completely false.
Myth 1: Counting cards is illegal
Card counting isn’t illegal and can be an extremely profitable strategy; however, casinos do have ways to detect card counters and prevent them from winning – ultimately it comes down to whether you’re willing to risk jail time and casino ban for just 1-2% edge at blackjack.
This misconception may stem from movies like “Rain Man,” which show card counters being caught and banned from casinos. While counting cards in the US is legal without using external devices such as calculators, casinos do have the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason, including card counting; both land-based and online casinos reserve this right and it’s common practice for counting carders to be kicked out due to this behavior.
Myth 2: Slot machines are looser near the aisles/at the front of the casino
Some players mistakenly believe that slot machines pay better in certain parts of a casino, believing machines near an aisle end or busy walkway to pay out more frequently than those further away. Although this was occasionally true ten years ago, such belief no longer applies in most casinos today.
Casinos aim to attract as many customers into their premises as possible, so popular games will often be located in high-traffic areas to draw people in and encourage play. But this doesn’t indicate looser machines; machines are set based on hold goals not by location or game type – there is no specific pattern when it comes to payout frequency!
Myth 3: You can’t win if you’ve been losing
This casino myth asserts that once you’ve lost money, it will become harder for you to win it back. But remembering random events like coin flips or card deals won’t be affected by prior results can help disprove this fallacy – known as “Gambler’s Fallacy”. Novice players often fall prey to this misconception.
Remember that casinos are heavily regulated and do not seek to exploit you. They may not appreciate it when you win often, but they won’t do anything underhanded to try and stop you from winning – in fact they may want you to keep playing – just don’t bankrupt yourself; that wouldn’t do either of you any good!
Myth 4: Slot machines are hot or cold
This myth stems from human nature: our desire to look for patterns in random events. Some people mistakenly believe that slot machines go through hot or cold cycles in which some pay out frequently while others don’t, when in reality this is not true as slots use Random Number Generators (RNG) that ensure each spin is entirely independent and random.
This implies that a machine’s odds of paying out don’t change following its recent payout of a large jackpot, regardless of confirmation bias and social pressures such as players sharing stories about winning on hot machines. Belief in this myth may stem from confirmation bias; players recall wins more vividly on “hot” machines when remembering them than losses on “cold” ones, for instance. Additionally, other players sharing stories of success on hot machines also contributes to it.
Myth 5: They pump pure oxygen into the air
Rumor has it that casinos use pure oxygen to keep people awake and gambling for longer – possibly inspired by Mario Puzo’s novel Fools Die, first published in 1978.
However, casinos would find this impractical and illegal – oxygen being an accelerant could pose serious safety concerns. Furthermore, the Las Vegas Gaming Commission makes regular visits to casinos to check air quality and gas percentage levels.
Though casinos do have an edge when it comes to their games, this edge is quite small and easily overcome in the long term. Dosing air with pure oxygen wouldn’t help either as this would leave players too energetic and distracted from focusing on their game play.
