What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! And what happens specifically in the casino stays between you, the dealer and everyone who has access to the security cameras. Films and TV shows often portray casinos as wild places full of debauchery and opportunities to earn thousands. But the reality is that the owners of these casinos often work hard to portray a perfectly curated image to the world.
Redditors have recently been revealing secrets that those in the gambling industry might not want you to know. From surprising ways companies encourage visitors to spend more to information that these hotels want to keep under wraps, enjoy scrolling through this juicy list. And be sure to upvote the details you think everyone should be aware of before putting any money into a slot machine!
#1
Security has to constantly wander the parking lots to see if there are any babies or dogs being left in the car. Real bad if security doesn't notice in time.
Image credits: a_humblesnail
#2
Used to be a blackjack dealer, in NV. To me, the most disgusting thing was watching people I knew, who were struggling to feed their families, come in and feed their entire paycheck into a slot machine, or gaming table. And, I was never allowed to say anything. Not on or off the job. I ended up quitting, as it was so depressing.
Image credits: Feisty_Diet_478
#3
If you drunkenly break into the kitchen to make a quesadilla, they let you eat it before having someone take you back to your room.
Image credits: rmg18555
#4
Not *totally* hidden from the public since I, a member of the public, was shown it... but major casinos in Vegas have an armory room, stockpiles of weapons and tactical gear.
Was staying at a casino on the main strip, and had a number of guns with me for a meetup at a nearby shooting range, and asked the front desk if they had somewhere I could keep them since I didn't really like the idea of leaving them unattended in my room or car. A security guy came out and said "follow me to the armory", and led me to an extremely secure room full of all kinds of rifles and vests and whatnot, pointed to an empty locking cabinet I could put my stuff in, and gave me a claim ticket to pick them back up again later.
Image credits: Asleep_Onion
#5
The security cameras are *scary* good. Like can read your name off your badge hanging off your waist good. You aren't doing a damn thing the camera can't see.
Image credits: thattoneman
#6
At this casino, employees were only allowed to gamble there 1 day a month. You'd think it'd be money right back into the casino's pocket, but they don't want the risk of an employee being heavily in debt.
Image credits: thattoneman
#7
The father of a friend of mine was robbed and stabbed in the parkade of a local casino in the late 90s, after he won big.
It never made the news, and a friend of mine who worked at the same casino 5 years later swore I was making it up because she had never heard anything about it. After talking to a few security guys she finally had someone give her an off the record, wink/nod confirmation that it did happen, but they went the extra mile to keep the story buried.
Image credits: BrokenArmsFrigidMom
#8
If you like to play slot machines never play penny slots. Those are the machines that make the casinos their most money. Play quarter or dollar machines you spend just as much or less each spin and they tend to have better payouts. But your brain says penny slots are cheaper but they have machines that you can hit $20 a spin and higher. Where I used to work penny machines had a 14% hold while quarter and dollar machines had an 8% hold. The hold is how much the machine will win over the lifetime of the machine the higher the hold the more you are likely not to win.
Also, a machine is never due. They use random number generators that act the moment you hit the spin button or pull the arm. The machine already knows if you have won or not and everything you see in front of you is for your entertainment.
Always use your player's card. Yes, they track your play and try to lure you back based on how you play but it's also how they determine if they give you things.
Every casino has its own scent. They want you to associate that smell with the casino subconsciously. It's like going to the movies and you smell the popcorn and your brain is ready for the experience.
Image credits: Icuivan
#9
The number of kids who are left alone at a casino so Mom and Dad can gamble. Not on the floor, but gift shops or food courts. It’s pretty sad.
Image credits: SnorkyB
#10
How safe casinos are for kids in a weird way. I had a young relative experience distress in LV and told her to get into any casino ASAP. Security intercepted her in a second and she was helped.
Image credits: MissFred
#11
When the MGM Grand opened in Las Vegas, you walked through a giant Lion’s mouth to get to the front door. Many Asian gamblers saw it as a sign of bad luck so they wouldn’t go in. Now it’s a smaller statue.
Image credits: DriedUpSquid
#12
Just how much money goes unclaimed/uncollected. I worked in the accounting department at one of the main gaming conglomerates and was tasked with cleaning up their unclaimed property accounts. There were players aka "whales" who'd deposited millions and just forgot about it for years.
Image credits: Swole_Troll
#13
I knew someone who hit the jackpot on a slot. It was around $200,000. The casino managers came out to verify, but they said the machine malfunctioned and it didn’t count.
How is that legal?
Image credits: holdholdhold
#14
A couple are not hidden, but not obvious to the average casino goer. Some casinos add scents to the air (they do not pump in extra oxygen in as some people believe). They also keep the temperatures on the cool side to keep people from getting sleepy. No clocks on the walls and, in general, no windows with views to the outside.
Image credits: HardRockGeologist
#15
Fire Rock Navajo Casino has the best Pozole and Fry Bread I have ever tasted! I'm Mexican and I may just make a trip to eat their pozole!
#16
I wandered down to the basement of MGM from a truck ramp and man, it was like a whole city down there, imagine a massive warehouse with roads and offices and supplies everywhere. The opposite of the glitz going on above it.
Image credits: Renorico
#17
90% of casinos have private areas for the high rollers, politicians, gangsters, and other vips.
I was able to deal cards at one of those events. I was literally tipped $500 by some guy for keeping the water 'liquid'.
Image credits: Hairy-Ganache-7457
#18
Not sure about western casinos, but this is for Asian casinos. Asians generally subscribe to the supernatural and definitely the superstitions that go along with gambling. casino owners tend to "hire" ghost babies, toyols or kumantongs (aborted baby spirits) to kind of "curse" players into losing. superstitious players will bring candies, toss them under tables so the ghost babies leave them alone because of the candy bribe and let them win.
Image credits: 10ballplaya
#19
The employee dining room is an entire buffet and convenience store with good quality at great prices.
#20
How much waste there is - tons of food, paper products, stuff like soaps, shampoos, lotions, key packets/folders... It's obscene.
We've got a lot of rats here in Vegas that appreciate it, though.
Image credits: hypothetical_zombie
#21
I don't know if this is still done but...
Many years ago I worked at Sahara Tahoe and in our paycheck envelopes the management would put 5 "drink tokes" that were good for 5 free drinks. It was introduced as an employee benefit. But you could only use the drink tokes in the casino bars, not in the restaurant or the hotel bars.
Now here's the kicker -
If you CASHED your paycheck at a casino cashier (again not at any of the hotel or restaurant cashiers) they would give you 10 MORE DRINK TOKES.
So what you would have on payday is many of the staff with a bunch or drinks under their belt and thousands of dollars in their pockets wandering around the casino.
It wasn't hard to see what the hotel wanted us to do with the cash...
#22
Anyone getting a job within the casino itself is getting background checked, especially for bad credit and outstanding debts. If you're a guy down on his luck, with some maxed out credit cards and you want a job to get back on your feet, the casino doesn't want you. You're a liability, you're not worth the risk.
Image credits: thattoneman
#23
One of my dad's best friends died on the floor of the Horeshoe casino in Baltimore. Upon googling his name, I can't find a single mention of it. I imagine deaths that don't involve violence aren't ever really talked about.
Image credits: anon
#24
In Atlantic City there are a lot of unused stairwells and corridors especially now that the casinos are not as busy. Many homeless people find their way into them and live.
A friend of mine told me about a time they were using a stair well to move furniture and drywall for a remodel. They found two landings with beds and clothing there and one "resident" claimed he had been there over a year.
Image credits: le_fez
#25
My aunt worked at one in Palm Springs, and she said they basically had a room full of extra stools. Old people were sure they were about to hit, and they'd just [pee] and [poop] themselves instead of giving up their machine.
Image credits: Raidriar06
#26
[Self-harm].
Properties go to GREAT lengths to hide these events from the public, given how bad for business it is. But it happens, and quickly taken care of. It's a very open but grim secret amongst casino workers apparently.
Image credits: zpoon
#27
My cousin works at a Casino, and depending on what table he is working, requires a uniform/vest/cumber/tie/clip change. There is a large employee room with hundreds of lockers. He shares his with 2 others that usually work different shifts/areas than him. In the locker are 6 hooks (2 for each person), a top cubby with 3 sections (for water bottles, etc), a lower section with 3 sections (for boots/change shoes), and above the footwear section a 3 section 'mini locker' that you bring your own lock, where you put your wallet, valuables, etc that you can't have on your person when you are on the floor. The lockers are large enough to keep your "section" clothes if you need to swap during your shift.
He only very rarely runs into a locker buddy, unless they've picked up an extra shift, or if there is a special event.
He is super short and his locker mates are a very tall man and an average height woman. He thinks locker mates are chosen very specifically to avoid thefts, minimal contact, etc, though he can't prove that.
Image credits: mollymuppet78
#28
Casinos actively work with the police to assist in apprehending persons with warrants.
#29
A bunch of years ago, the matriarch of a family jumped overboard because she spent the family’s vacation cash in the casino on our cruise ship.
Image credits: calypsodweller
#30
As someone that worked in the business for 24 years I can tell you that the employees are talking serious s**t on you in thier breakroom.
Edit: Most casino employees have 'nicknames' for the regulars. They are rarely nice nicknames.
Image credits: freezingprocess
#31
Infrared cameras. Ladies - don’t wear a red dress into a casino.
#32
The amount of people who get their car repossessed. They come to security thinking their car got stolen. The company will call us out of courtesy to let us know they took someone’s vehicle. Can’t pay their car payment but come gamble for hours.
#33
Secret VIP doors. I used to hang with high rollers, if you wagered over ~$400k+/year at the casino you're given a VIP card to access private rooms and lounges. Randomly next to a slot machine in the wall would be a card reader. Even if you did see it, you might assume it's a staff area but in reality, it was a VIP lounge. One door opens to a huge balcony overlooking the lobby. Full bar, food, and private staff that will take care of you.
#34
How about the design that prevents you from seeing the exits or figuring out how to get out.
#35
Here in Australia, its money laundering
Any gambling wins here are tax-free. So if you've got s**t loads of dirty cash and you need to clean it. Go to any pub, club casino, etc, and start feeding your ill gotten gains into a pokie machine, press collect, and hey presto clean money. You don't even need to play. Just collect tax-free cash.
#36
I only have the one experience that likely doesn’t qualify because I still have no idea what was happening or why.
I was collecting water samples at a major casino/hotel for legionella testing - a big deal for any hospitality type industry. They were diligent and had consistently good results - just fyi.
We were down on the floor with the villas. We’d already passed a couple levels of security (the presidential suite was empty, we were given a key and took our time), but when we were halfway down a hallway for the villas, two very large men in suits (I’m a fairly well built man, but I understood my place at that moment) came up and angrily asked for verification and then radioed in our credentials. They very bluntly told hotel security that they were meant to have complete privacy. Once we were cleared they told us to mind our business and move on quickly. A third, very angry, albeit very well dressed giant of a man walked out of a room as we walked by. What I saw was a giant U-shaped sectional sofa with a couple dozen or more elderly men in suits . Behind each man was a beautiful, very scantily dressed, much younger woman. They all stared blankly at me and my coworker as we passed.
We were told to get the f**k out of there in a way that we, with puckered buttholes, listened to. Bizarre experience, but I thought it basically confirmed what I thought about Vegas.
#37
Human trafficking happens a lot in casinos. I very briefly worked at one and a huge part of the training was human trafficking.
Also roaches are everywhere.
Image credits: SailorVenus23
#38
(In LV) The sheer amount of data that is collected and analyzed on everything, from the weekend traffic coming from LA, the demographics going to see a concert/show and how that impacts staffing, everything about your slot or table play, down to how the size of the pans used in a buffet relate to food waste.
#39
D**g use! I've so many people do d***s while playing slots. Casino doesn't say anything, they are just happy they are losing their money.
Image credits: Proper-Snow-911
#40
When I worked at a tribal casino for 2 different positions, I went through orientation for each time.
I remember we were told that it was encouraged to befriend the customers who frequent the casino a lot. This includes trying to figure out why they have so much money.
Also, the application to this casino stated that they preferred to hire those who were Native American. I’m a member of the tribe, despite being very white, so idk if I was picked for my papers, but whatever.
Don’t work at a casino, people. They profit off of vices.
#41
I worked at a racetrack/casino for a summer and what surprised me the most was how intense the hiring and training process was. i knew there would be a background check and d**g test, but i also had to get certified by my state's racing and games commission. it wasn't a difficult process but it took forever and they took my fingerprints which i thought was weird. it was basically like i was getting security clearance. and everyone who worked there had to do it, even if they were working at the adjoining hotel and never stepped foot into the actual casino.
once i got hired i had to watch a bunch of orientation videos that were required by the state or federal government. one was about recognizing the signs of gambling addiction and when to intervene with guests who showed these signs. like how bartenders have to cut people off. it was pretty obvious that they only showed that video because they had to and they didn't want us to cut off their best customers.
and then there was a powerpoint and quiz mandated by a federal agency (either the fbi, irs, or sec, i can't remember) about fraud and tax evasion. basically, if someone won over a certain amount (i think $5,000?) in one day they had to report their winnings to the irs before they could leave with their money. and there were ways that people tried to game the system to get out of paying taxes. like they would cash out just under the threshold (so if the $5,000 number was correct, they would cash out $4,999) and wait to collect more until the next day. so either they do a transaction before midnight and another after or they take their chips home to bring back later. or they could get other people to collect money for them. so casino staff was supposed to be on the lookout for any sort of shady behavior that could be tax avoidance. and if you had suspicions but no proof, they had a computer program for you to input profiles with any details you could gather (name, physical description, amount won) so security could keep an eye out. i never had to do this since i worked at the racetrack and not the actual casino but it was crazy to me that the dealers and other casino employees had to worry about all that on top of their regular job duties. the pay was pretty good but not enough for investigating financial crimes imo.
#42
If you're on a roll and someone shows up to make a really weird bet that f***s up the flow of your winning, it's probably someone on the casino's payroll that's been sent over to f**k you over so that the casino doesn't have to pay you out.
#43
The amount of money you can find just looking DOWN on the floor.
All sorts of cash. Not just on the casino floor but in the bathrooms and halls too.
Image credits: MissMurderpants
#44
The ATM's don't make it well known that someone's account is empty. Their bartenders also have a magic way of making bills disappear if you've spent a long time at one of their machines.
Image credits: anon
#45
If a death occurred in a casino or casino hotel resort, the time of death cannot be declared until it is off the property - at the hospital or on arrival.
This spans from peaceful deaths during sleep or after scraping the body off the pool deck after the person jumped from above.
The last thing casinos want is the number of deaths, or rather [self-harm], officially linked to them.
#46
I was an auditor for a casino. They are watching everyone at all times and the cameras can zoom in to see ALL the details of what you’re looking at on your phone, etc. No secrets in casinos!
#47
At this casino, employees were required to wear badges clearly visible at all times when on the premises, even if not on the clock. Escorting your grandma to the bingo hall after your shift? Badge still better be visible. In the parking lot? Badge still better be visible.
#48
Had a friend that worked one of the ‘party’ pools at a Vegas casino (similar to the former Rehab at Hard Rock). He said that an average of 12 people die a year and if no one notices, they are directed to just leave the person there, i.e. if they are on a float or lounge chair.
#49
I used to work at an Indian casino who was a customer of ours. The tribe takes their cut and basically don't work or even show up. A few of the kids were given token jobs like security but just sit in the booth not actively doing anything. Everyone else who had to pick up the slack hated them. The main board is called the "Tribal Council" and although they had primo parking spots they never showed up when I was there.
I sold to their IT department and as a whole, was shocked how much access they had to all of the systems. We could pull up real time slot machine traffic and payouts. We could access everyone the security cameras picked up. Anybody with a player's card we could track their movements and winnings. Anybody staying at the hotel they knew everything about them (and their spouses).
#50
Probably fairly well known but there are plain-clothes security EVERYWHERE. The uniformed security are not the ones you need to worry about.
#51
I used to be a graveyard shift slot technician. A few times we thought dead people were just normal people that fell asleep at their machines because of how late it was. Security would just scoop them up, put them in a wheel chair, and wheel them to a sally port to wait for an ambulance. It must've happened a lot because the staff would be annoyed when you told them someone was sleeping.
#52
Burglaries of the rooms. I was staying at the Four Queens downtown many years ago and my room was burglarized in what was clearly an inside job. Housekeeping had cased the room, they picked which bags had which items at the time, then when the burglary happened later that evening, they ignored much more valuable items in bags that had not arrived until later and were not part of the initial scan. They then tried to extort us after calling later at night. Management would not provide video, call logs, or other data and was totally useless, as, interestingly, was LVPD - never in my life has it been clearer that something was organized crime.
Image credits: Reddoraptor
#53
Worked for a Tribal Council, but heard stories from the casino. Typical tribal members drunk and going into the casinos and telling all the white employees they own them. Also at this casino, tribal members received a 4-5 figure check PER MONTH, just for being a member and having a casino. Tons of women showing up claiming to have tribal babies for the $$. And they hated other tribes, especially the poor ones.
#54
I worked in a casino for a couple years in Scotland and there’s a whole database on the customers. What you wear, who you talk to, what your hair looks like. Also if we didn’t know your name and we had to put you on the machine next to us, sometimes we’d just call you *twat 1* or *man with awful hair*.
#55
Almost all sounds and music coming out of the slot machines are tuned to the key of C because it’s the most pleasant and least bothersome key.
Image credits: undahyobed
#56
The office in the basement where you can sign over your house for gambling money.
#57
The casinos hire researchers to develop scents that not only promote gambling, they make you more likely to lose. Then they pump that sh!t into the ventilation system.
