Is this a psychological thing? well hmm just somemthing that has been going through my head.
WAG: anything that reminds you of how long you’ve been in a casino is seen as a bad thing, since the owners don’t want you thinking you’ve been there too long.
Casino owners don’t want anyone saying, “Whoa, look at the time, I’d better be going!” They want people to stick around as long as they still have money.
Before you read too much evil into it; I defy you to find a department store with a clock, or a nice restaurant.
I’ll take “Misuse of Semicolons” for $1000, Alex.
You can’t spend money and watch the clock at the same time, Goddamnit! Get busy and spend, spend, spend! Do you think we’re running this casino for our health?
Do watch stores have clocks?
They do, but they are all set to different times, so you look at one and think you’re late, look at another and think you’re early then get so confused you faint.
That’s when they steal your wallet.
They keep trumpeting this “truth” on every special about Las Vegas casinos as if it were some deep, dark secret.
First of all, why should they have clocks?
There is seldom a clock in fast food restaurants, or Walmart (unless you buy one) or shopping malls. I believe a clock in a church is also not exactly commonplace.
However, lots of people in casinos wear watches.
And before the next deep dark secret is announced, “I hear they pump oxygen in the ventilation to keep you awake.”
The answer is, “No - they don’t.”
This may be a rumor but I heard that casinos will give you FREE alcohol in order to lower your inhibitions so you will gamble more!:eek:
In light of this the lack of clocks seems positively benign!
No windows either…why should you know if it’s day or night?..you might leave.
From my experience, Catholic churches always have clocks in them. I think the priests need to know if they have to pick up the pace because they don’t want one Mass to run into the crowd coming for the following one.
And Catholics don’t like to go to Mass for longer than an hour either. We don’t have the same sort of attention span as Protestants.
As for the time in casinos, can’t you just ask someone if you need to know? Or wear a watch?
Our local Wal-Mart has a large clock above both sets of doors. I’ve also been in malls that have “Big Ben” style clocks, or “street-lamp” style clocks in the middle of the common areas.
Fast food resturants often do have clocks, you just have to look around. Usually, there’s one over by the drive-through window, or on one of the back walls. If there isn’t, it’s not a consporacy to keep you there longer, it’s because they’re cheap, and don’t want to buy one. Fast food resturants would prefer that you eat and leave as quickly as possible.
The same reason they close the pool at 7:00 in the summer, just when the temperature has dropped below 100 degrees: the goal of every policy and piece of architecture within a mile of the gaming floor is to get you onto the gaming floor, spending as much money as possible, and keep you there until you pass out from exhaustion.
I noticed that the Crown Casino (Melbourne, Australia) Had installed clocks on all of its slot machines the last time I was there.
The certainly wouldn’t have done it voluntarily, (They weren’t the a few years ago)
The clock were quite obvious, some machines have them built in and other (where it wasn’t practical) had them stuck on with double sided tape
And have you noticed how awful the patterns on the casinos’ carpets are? No? Probably because you didn’t want to look at them for more than a second. That’s the idea. Keep your eyes on the machines and gravitate towards them. Play, play, play!
I’d know, of course, having spent many days of my life in casinos in CA and NV.
–She whose username hides no secrets
Wow free alcohol? Makes me want to loiter in casinos just for the free booze!
The McDonalds next to my work as a clock. This is great if I decided to eat before work; I can make sure I’m not late! 
I was in a barnes and noble the other day during a break from class, and I asked the woman at the counter what time it was. “It’ll cost ya!” she replied :eek:
I hear that casinos have “bright white” ceilings and lots of light to give the illusion of daytime, in addition to the lack of clocks, ugly carpets and hard-to-find exits.
…and hard-to-find exits.
And yet the ATMs are clearly marked.