September 4, 2020

How Do Online Casinos Entice Players To Spend More?

The design and features of online casinos have a systematic function to keep you hooked and spending your money. Some of the strategies these casinos employ are obvious, but there are craftier facets, too.

All of it plays on your psychology, making you feel comfortable, important, and positive. Let’s explore some of the tactics that online casinos, such as SA Gaming, use to keep you playing.

Lights and Sounds

Casinos can be an immersive environment with a vast array of flashing lights and sounds. While this phenomenon is common in land-based casinos, even games on mobile apps and web-based platforms include a range of audio and visual adornments to capture your attention.

According to studies, these audio-visual effects become more captivating and encouraging to gamblers when paired with reward uncertainty. It’s enthralling to find such stimulating features while wondering whether the next flash will bring with it a resounding victory and the tinkling of a thousand coins.

Win-associated prompts, such as jingles dependent on the jackpot size, are especially effective in increasing the excitement factor and urging players to keep going.

Big Celebrations for Rare Wins

Your chances of striking the jackpot on a slot machine are slim, but whenever you hit that rare big win, vibrant lights flash, and celebratory sounds blare from the screen.

Such celebrations create a false sense of opportunity, which keeps other players in the game. You should realize that someone else’s wins won’t do anything to increase your chances of winning, though. It’s all random.

Illusion of Control

As a gambler, you have the freedom to choose which online casino to visit, which games to play, and which moves you like best.

The freedom can make you overly confident, giving the illusion that you’re not like all the other players, and you stand a better chance of winning.

The more choices that an online casino gives you, the more complex it appears and the more skill you imagine in your decision-making process. You increasingly believe that your bets will win, but it’s a clever illusion designed to increase your spins.

Near-Misses

A slot machine has about 37% to 42% of ‘near misses’ programmed into it for psychological effect. Even if game developers don’t add these features, players often do it themselves through hope and optimism, turning clear losses into “near-wins.”

These near-win situations stimulate parts of the brain that normally respond to actual wins, increasing your desire to play.

The concept not only works on slots machines and casinos, but it is also one of the factors that make smartphone games so addictive, like Candy Crush.

Loyalty Programs

Online casino operators understand that gamblers have different levels of tolerance and risk. As gamblers approach their limit for losses, they’re most likely to stop gambling and feel awful about the experience. Some online casinos even have loyalty systems that track the player’s behavior and determine the level of loss a player can endure in a typical playing session.

Once the casino identifies the tolerance level, the casino monitors the player’s wins and losses. As the losses approach the calculated tolerance level, the casino offers the player a reward in the form of cash or bonus points to encourage further play.

Player’s Club Levels

Some casinos have player’s clubs for different levels. The bottom level might be bronze and the highest, gold. The more you play, the higher you rise.

The top-level offers the best benefits, so every player strives to reach it. It is one of the excellent ways that casinos encourage you to play, and spend more money.

It doesn’t mean that you should avoid the player’s clubs. You may also get rewards for your participation. However, it’s not a good idea to change your play based on the player’s clubs rewards.

Consider setting limits before you start playing and stick with these commitments no matter the incentives that emerge from the casino.

No Tracking of Time

If you don’t track time, you can easily lose days in an online casino. If you keep track of time, you’ll quickly realize that you’ve been playing for ages or have other commitments waiting, so you’ll stop playing.

Casinos are the Lotus-Eaters of the modern entertainment scene, designed to draw you in and keep you there. It eliminates everything that can alert you to the time so that you remain immersed in whatever game you’re playing. The more time you spend at the casino, the more money you’re likely to spend there.

Huge Progressive Jackpots

Casinos often advertise progressive jackpots worth millions of dollars to entice you to play. If it can convince you to try the first spin on the slot machine, it will most likely get you to take the next spin.

Before you come to your senses, you’ll have spent a significant amount on trying to win the jackpot. You’ll not only lose money to the casino but also several hours of your life.

Disconnect from Normal Life

Casinos serve as a sanctuary for some gamblers, keeping them focussed on something other than real life. These gambles retreat to the casinos to ease their stress. They understand that no one will disturb them while they play.

Casino operators capitalize on this situation, intentionally encouraging people to visit the casino so that they can have some stress-free “alone time.” The aim of the operators is to get you to spend more money, but life will still be waiting for you outside.

Final Thoughts

Online casinos employ a wide range of tricks to get you to play and spend more. They capitalize on the weaknesses of human psychology to ensure that you spend as much time in the casino as possible.

The features are designed to increase your urge to keep playing, including thrilling audio-visuals, near-misses, loyalty programs, and a false sense of control. Now that you understand these subtle tactics, look out for the signs, and be sure to play on your terms only. The house always wins, but it doesn’t need to be a lot.

About the author 

Peter Hatch


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