If you’ve ever seen the movie Casino, you’ve probably got an idea of how exciting it can be to win big at a gambling establishment. The twinkly lights, blaring music, and cheers when someone wins on the slot machines or at the table are all designed to lure you in and press your luck. But it’s important to remember that the odds of hitting a jackpot or going all in at Texas hold’em are very low. And the people who run casinos are counting on you to lose.

The biggest trick they have up their sleeves is the fact that there are no clocks inside a casino, so you can’t tell what time of day or night it is. This tricks your brain into thinking it’s a good hour to gamble, even when you’re hungry or need to go to the bathroom. Casinos also strategically place games in places that tempt you to stop. For instance, many casinos place the bathrooms near the gaming floors, making it hard to reach them without walking past more chances to put your money on the line.

Another trick casinos use is that they’re deliberately designed to produce “near wins.” When a player inserts their money into a slot machine and the machine shows two symbols matching, it triggers the brain’s reward system as though they’ve just won. The resulting excitement makes players think they’re close to winning the jackpot, so they keep playing.