# casino question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casino-question/705376 "2014-11-23T01:22:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casino-question/705376/41 "2014-11-26T15:17:24Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Emphasis on “almost”. > > The gaming laws have established a system that is insanely profitable. Every casino’s best long-term interests lie in closely conforming to those laws. Exactly. That’s what makes all these theories so ridiculous. They don’t NEED to fiddle with odds, or have dodgy machines, or skew things in favor of this or that. Just operating completely up front, legally, and on the level, they’re raking in money hand over fist. Why would they ever risk losing the right to do so by cheating some poor schlub out of an extra hundred bucks here and there? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casino-question/705376/42 "2014-11-26T15:33:48Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Exactly. That’s what makes all these theories so ridiculous. They don’t NEED to fiddle with odds, or have dodgy machines, or skew things in favor of this or that. Just operating completely up front, legally, and on the level, they’re raking in money hand over fist. Why would they ever risk losing the right to do so by cheating some poor schlub out of an extra hundred bucks here and there? That’s why I tell people that casinos are probably the most honest businesses there are. They don’t need to bullshit anyone to make money. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casino-question/705376/43 "2014-11-26T17:59:14Z")
And keep in mind that a lot of casino lore is old and hasn’t taken into account modern technology or the fact that casinos hear the lore too and and adjust when it is real. A lot of things I hear about how to game loyalty programs date to the early days of them when it was much more manual and perception based and pit bosses had a lot more leeway on what they could do. Can’t remember if it was Planet Money or RadioLab but one of them did a long story on casino loyalty programs a couple years ago and one of the points made was that while they couldn’t change the odds of a game they could monitor you and change your customer experience (theoretically, i can’t remember if the casino was actually doing stuff like this or just talking about what they could do with the . So if you’re a new gambler to the casino and you drop $100 into a slot machine and it just takes it straight with no excitement along the way, they can’t change the game but they can make sure a hostess comes by with an offer for a free drink just to make you happier with your experience losing. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casino-question/705376/44 "2014-11-26T18:10:10Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Emphasis on “almost”. > > The gaming laws have established a system that is insanely profitable. Every casino’s best long-term interests lie in closely conforming to those laws. While the games remain profitable, casinos aren’t necessarily. Caesars has lost money every years since 2010. MGM Resorts has lost money four out of the last five years. Boyd Gaming has lost money the last two years. But I agree, there is no good reason for a major corporation run casino to break th rules for low value gamblers. Even if they’ve managed to take a stupidly profitable business and still lose money. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casino-question/705376/45 "2014-11-26T23:36:16Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > Originally Posted by friedo It is absolutely forbidden for casinos in Nevada to alter gameplay based on the player. > > It is absolutely illegal for anyone to smoke pot in all fifty States. > [@boffking](#): > > Except for Washington, Alaska, Colorado, and two cities in Maine. What, are we invisible up here in [Oregon](http://www.ktvz.com/news/oregons-largest-county-drops-marijuana-cases/29648746)? Helloooooo. Can anybody see me? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casino-question/705376.md?page=2)