Few movies portray the shady side of Las Vegas as well as Casino, Martin Scorsese’s epic crime drama starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. While most movies rely on the opulence of casinos and their flashy neon signs to attract viewers, Casino goes beyond this to explore the city’s deep ties with organized crime. It lays bare a web of corruption that stretched to the mayor and local politicians, the Teamsters unions, and even the Chicago mob.
Casino also emphasizes how casinos are not charitable organizations that throw free money away. Every game has a mathematical expectancy, known as the house edge, that ensures a casino will eventually make gross profit. To overcome this disadvantage, casinos entice big bettors with free spectacular entertainment, transportation, and elegant living quarters. They also give lesser bettors promotional inducements such as cash back, free play, monthly mailers, loss rebates, and so on.
When a casino opens in an area, it brings more people to the region, who spend their money on hotels, restaurants, and other tourist attractions. This increases the local economy and decreases unemployment. However, the skilled labor that casinos employ is usually from outside the region and doesn’t replace the jobs of the original population.
Knowing this, it’s important to understand your audience and how they decide to visit your casino. Demographics, such as age, income, and education are helpful but they’re not the only factors. Understanding the emotions and behaviors that drive your audience’s decisions is crucial to enhancing their experiences.