Entering a Casino

I wonder what happens when one enters a Casino for a first time?

I would imagine there's a line-up, going all the way out the building, as the staff check your ID, age, and search your person for cheating things. After that, you would head over to a booth office, where you wager some money; from the bank or straight from the wallet — that money gets turned into playing chips.

Then finally, you're free to enjoy yourself playing roulette, or Baccarat, etc.

Would anyone care to correct me on what I've said, elaborate more on things? Or is this pretty much it?

edited 4th Dec '10 5:07:38 PM by QQQQQ

While I personally have never been in a casino, here's what I've gathered from people who have: The line going out the building (a visual more commonly associated with exclusive clubs) would never happen, because casinos are ingeniously designed to avoud that sort of thing. Their designes are based almost entirely around getting people inside and keeping people inside. They have huge entrances and enough people to card everyone (which they do usually do, but not always) and definitely no searches. More on keeping people inside, they are well-lit, but have no windows and no clocks visible in the actual gambling areas. The exits are designed to not be walked through, but passively, unobtrusively so, and you should probably look into that for fear of overdoing it, because I'm honestly not sure the degree to which this is noticable. I have heard stories of people leaving casinos or glancing down at their watches to find that hours have passed or night has fallen without their noticing.

No clocks in the gambling areas? Do they really want to hem the player in that badly? (Or are they afraid some people would use the clock in a cheating plot:

i.e. if the dealer on the other table had a six of clubs, then one guy would signal the other guy if the clock read XX:23?)

edited 4th Dec '10 5:43:39 PM by QQQQQ

There's no way the clocks could be used for cheating. Good luck pulling anything in a modern casino anyway.

There's all sorts of other tricks they use too. Like readily available alcohol to make people gamble recklessly. Or arranging for slot machines in highly visible areas to give payouts more often. (When someone wins big, a crowd will see them and then start playing slots too)

I've heard that they even manipulate the oxygen levels inside to keep people happy and gambling, although I'm not sure whether this is real or just an Urban Legend.

edited 4th Dec '10 9:26:19 PM by storyyeller

I imagine having an Empath-telepathic character come in for her first time, and explore the frivolous atmosphere, whilst sneaking a peek at the next card or forcing the probabilities to come favourably. An unexpected way to cheat.

Oh yes, I mustn't forget the booze too.. hm.

And I think I will include the oxygen-high conspiracy as well; even though the owners could face charges for this. Pipe it through the ventilation, and the floor. (But better make it non-smoking though, so nobody'll get suspicious it's not good for the lungs.)

edited 4th Dec '10 9:40:48 PM by QQQQQ

I spent a week in Las Vegas earlier this year. So, things I noticed about casinos there:

No queues for the casino itself, but certain places inside the casino - counter for chips, the bar, exclusive clubs or whatever - might have one. There's plenty of people who can card you around, but they rarely do so unless you actually buy a drink/get chips/sit down at a slot machine. And no-one gets frisked for cheat's tool unless they have actually been suspected of cheating (and going by the movies, they'd always check them out in a private room, away from the public.)

I agree on the no clocks and no windows thing, also very air-conditioned (But I was there in the middle of a heatwave, so...). I found them actually sort of dimly lit, so you couldn't get a good feel what time it was.

Also, in order to get to anywhere in the casino from the entrance - AT Ms, bathrooms, bars, restaurants - the paths are always through the gambling area and not particularly direct, so you walk past a whole lot of slot machines and gambling tables on the way.

Yes. In private..

And also, nice idea to make it that you have to get tempted by all the flashing lights and bling bling when you walk— hey I can see my jackpot in there!

It depends on the Casino and which country you are in. In Vegas you don't tend to get any line ups and I don't recall anyone specifically stopping people and checking ID because virtually all of the casinos are attached to family-oriented hotels. There is a pathway that minors have to stay on as they walk through the casino that keeps them 5 or 10 feet from the machines and tables. If, say, a father and son team were wandering through, dad could stop for a few pulls on a slot machine and the kid would have to wait a few feet behind him. If a kid tries to step off the "beaten path" then security appears to check ID or remind dad to keep the kid out of the gaming area.

The basic geographical division is between machines (slots and video poker) and table games. The slots are divided into sections based on how much you are wagering: dollars, quarters, nickels or (rarely) pennies. Table games are divided by type, and wager (minimum/maximum). Waitresses patrol the gaming area but more frequently so based on the size of the wager for the slots or table. This is expecially so when they offer free booze to gamblers (Canadian casinos only offer free softdrinks).

The mixture of slots, table games, video poker terminals, and the variety and number of table games varies depending on the casino and location. As an example, I think that craps tables are more popular in Atlantic City compared to Las Vegas. Baccarat is a very European version of blackjack and I don't recall seeing it played in the US.

As far as the chips are concerned, you can purchase them at the tables. So you walk up, plop downa c-note or whathaveyou, and let the person know what denominations of chips you want, and then you start playing. You only need to go to the "cage" to cash in your chips, although you could buy them there as well or get coinage for the slot machines.

I used to work in a casino, here's a few things I noticed...

noise. Casinos are quite noisy, even ones that don't have slot machines; chips clattering and clicking is the main sound (every gambler I've ever seen plays with their chips constantly). Add to that the babble of a hundred people, each trying to make themselves heard over everyone else. There's also music, either from a jukebox or a live band. You can hear that its there, but only if you know the tune well can you make it out.

smoke. A good many casinos are still on Indian tribal land (at least in the US), and most of them allow smoking indoors. Gamblers tend to be smokers, so there's usually a haze in the air.

cameras. There are cameras everywhere in a casino, especially at the tables. Everything you do is recorded, written down and logged.

desperation. No one really looks comfortable in a casino; going there is about risk, and the losers look unhappy while the winners are on an adrenaline high. It's a roller-coaster, and while there are highs and lows there's seldom a chance to relax.

As far as the walking in part...

When you first walk in there's a security guard who checks your ID. Chips are purchased in one of two ways; you can either buy them at the table (for table games like Blackjack and the like) or you can go to what's called the "cash cage" to exchange money for chips and vice versa.

If you are playing poker, to get in a game you talk to the floor supervisor who puts your name on a list; if you want into a specific game you might have to wait for an available seat but unless the place is packed it doesn't take too long. In most places either the poker supervisor (or one of his assistants in a larger casino) is willing to get your chips for you.

It's considered part of the etiquette to tip everyone you come in contact with (dealers, wait staff, cash cage personnel etc.) except the security guards; its against the law to tip them in most places and trying can get you booted, depending on how law-abiding the establishment is.

Not to say it doesn't ever happen, just that its against the law.

I'll edit this post if I think of anything else but those are the main things I remember from my time as a security guard.