Casino, Martin Scorsese’s riveting account of Sin City’s dark underbelly, is a masterfully-constructed thriller that never lags or runs out of steam. It is not the most sexy, fun or exciting movie ever made, but it is one of the most important. It shows us that gambling is not just about opulence, neon and the chance to win big. It is also about the deep connections between casinos and organized crime.
A casino has a built-in house edge (the average gross profit the establishment expects to make on each game). This advantage is known as the “house edge.” It is mathematically impossible for a patron to beat this house edge, no matter how many games they play or how much money they bet. Casinos understand this and employ a variety of psychological tricks to keep players playing for longer and to increase their overall profits.
For example, the dazzling lights and joyful sounds of the slot machines create a manufactured blissful experience that encourages players to stay at the tables and gamble for longer. Slots also use “near misses” to keep players engaged. These near wins trigger the brain’s reward system and give players the feeling that they are close to winning, motivating them to continue playing in hopes of hitting the jackpot.
Casino stars Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci as the mob-backed casino owners Ace Rothstein and Ginger McKenna. Though sometimes they are together, the film is really two separate stories of mob-linked hustlers with parallel plots.
