There are few things more alluring to the eyes than a casino floor. Glittering lights, champagne glasses clinking and the sound of clinging slot machines create an intoxicating buzz. But what makes casinos so attractive? Whether it’s the excitement of betting on a game of chance or simply the sense of community that surrounds them, casinos have a special magic that draws people in.
The main reason for this is that casinos are carefully designed to manipulate the behavior of their visitors. From intimate rooms with cozy sofas to labyrinth-like walkways filled with enticing games, casinos are meant to be warm and inviting. This helps keep gamblers in the building as long as possible. Security also plays a role, with cameras placed throughout the facility that allow personnel to track every table, window and doorway. This allows them to quickly spot suspicious patrons and avert crime and cheating.
But despite the lure of easy money and the thrill of gambling, casino games are not for everyone. The truth is that the odds are stacked against you and the only way to beat those odds is by winning a streak of luck. But even that isn’t guaranteed. In fact, if you win a few hands in a row, it’s likely that you will walk away with less money than when you entered the casino.
This is the world that Scorsese and his cast bring to us in Casino, a movie that was not only set in Sin City but about it. It is a film of contradictions, where the old-school gambler Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro) prides himself on being above corruption but is willing to extort kickbacks from mafia bosses.
The movie also has some truly hellacious violence, including a torture-by-vice sequence that had to be trimmed for an NC-17 rating and a scene in which Ginger (Sharon Stone) is beaten with a baseball bat. But there is a more subtle, ambivalent side to the film, too. For instance, in one early scene – with deliberate echoes of Goodfellas’ Copacabana interlude and the roving Steadicam in Raging Bull – we see the money counting room of a casino, where high rollers are paid comps worth tens of thousands of dollars.
These are the people that casinos are really trying to attract, and they can make a huge difference in the bottom line. But while casinos often promise to hire local residents, the reality is that they are more likely to employ lower skilled workers from outside the area. This may lead to a decrease in unemployment rates for the original local population, but it is unlikely to solve all of their problems. This is why the government needs to take a closer look at this issue.
