Casino is an epic crime drama that shows the dark side of Vegas. While most Las Vegas movies only scratch the surface of partying, weekend getaways, and opulence, Martin Scorsese’s Casino dives deep, exposing the city’s mob ties, corruption, and past opportunism. With a star-studded cast including Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone, this movie is riveting from start to finish.

Casinos are carefully designed to trick people into spending their money. Using sounds, lights, and physical design, casinos create a manufactured blissful experience that’s hard to step away from. And to keep you coming back, they serve lots of booze, which reduces inhibitions and clouds judgment.

The odds of a casino game are mathematically determined and always against the player, with the exception of skill-based games such as poker where players compete against each other. In those games, the house earns a commission called the rake. Despite these odds, people still gamble for real money and often lose large sums of cash. How do casinos make otherwise rational people, who work hard and make sensible financial decisions on a daily basis, throw hundreds of dollars away based on the roll of the dice or spin of the wheel?

The answer lies in the psychology of gambling. Casinos use sound, light, and physical design to manipulate people into playing for longer. And to keep you coming back, they offer comps and rewards that make it difficult to walk away from a table or slot machine, even when you’re losing.