Michael Easter: How Casinos Can Predict Human Behavior

How Casinos Can Predict Human Behavior – For the vast majority of online casino games, there isn’t much one can do to turn the odds in their favor. Following good advice and having some form of strategy is a good idea, but we all know the casino has an edge unless you are playing a game of skill and chance, such as poker.

Therefore, it begs the question that is not addressed enough. If the house always wins, then why do people continue to gamble?

Author of Scarcity Brain, Michael Easter, Appears on Joe Rogan’s Podcast

Michael Easter, the author of The Comfort Crisis and his most recent book, Scarcity Brain, appeared on the Joe Rogan podcast on the 26th of September to talk about how casinos can predict human behavior. During this podcast, he described how he came to learn about casinos’ dirty tricks and how they spend vast amounts of money on research which ultimately contribute to more players becoming addicted to gambling.

We already knew that casinos had an interest in players betting more and for longer, but we were taken aback by some of Easter’s findings.

The Myths Surrounding Gambling Addiction Busted

Easter told Rogan that during his journalist quest to discover why people become addicted to gambling, he discovered that anti-gambling groups had several theories about casinos’ dark side but discovered most of them to be false.

For example, you might have heard that casinos deliberately don’t put clocks in casinos. He visited numerous casinos and saw that there were quite a number of clocks in several of them. He also heard theories about slot machines containing no right angles, as this activates a logical response, or that all slot music is played in the key of C.

After realizing that he could quite easily debunk these theories, Easter came up with a logical conclusion. Instead of talking to those who want to stop people from gambling, he needed to talk to people who had an interest in people starting to gamble or continue to gamble.

Experimental Casino in Las Vegas Not Open to the Public

According to Easter, there is a cutting-edge casino on the outskirts of Las Vegas which, amazingly, is not open to the public. The sole purpose of this casino is to study human behavior.

Clearly surprised by this claim, Rogan asks who is funding such an elaborate experiment, to which Easter responds 73 different companies. If Easter’s claims are true, this involves several gambling-related companies, as you would expect, and tech companies that feature on the Fortune 500 list.

Check this video below, where Asmongold reacts to the interview.

How Casinos Can Predict Human Behavior or Why Are Slot Machines So Addictive?

After some quite shocking revelations in regard to the detail of research that goes into human behavior related to gambling, Easter states three reasons why slot machines are the most addictive of all. He uses his theory, the scarcity loop, to help explain this.

The Scarcity Loop

“We have an abundance of all these things that we are designed to crave, and we have no rails on these things,”

Easter used these words in an interview on the 26th of September with GMA to explain why so many Americans are struggling with addiction to food. He applies a very similar logic to those who experience issues with gambling. He argues that despite Western comfort being far removed from our ancestors’ reality, our brains are still wired the same way. Accessibility, however, has changed everything. A large emphasis of his work focuses on how humans should strive to be content with enough. Enough sex, enough food, etc. This can refer to anything that derives pleasure.

1. Opportunity

Slot machines are the most accessible of all games. In a live casino, slots don’t require a croupier, and they are the staple of online casinos, with many platforms offering thousands of titles. You don’t have to wait long for games to load; players only have to press a button. In essence, any skill or thinking power is not needed.

2. Unpredictable Rewards

When playing a slot machine, you might win nothing, you might win a few dollars, and there is the chance you will walk away with a life-changing sum of money. This is not only thrilling but addictive. The possibility of winning large sums of money is the dream, although it should never be the reason why anyone gambles. Interestingly Easter states that even Uber uses the power of unpredictable rewards to attract drivers.

3. Quick repeatability

There are a lot of gambling activities, such as betting on sports, for example, that rely on some time delay. There are so many betting opportunities available that although the wait might be minimal, there still is some time for reflection. With slots, however, you can press the button repeatedly.

The UK has actually banned the autoplay button, with the logic being that players can spin the wheel 1000 times without feeling like they are participating that much. This inactivity doesn’t help the bettor address any potential issues with their gambling habits, if there are any.

The Looping Factor

Gambling companies want people to continue to gamble. Therefore, Easter claims they are fascinated by the looping factor. This psychological term can help explain why people repeat behaviors even if it is not in their best interest and how casinos can predict human behavior based on that.

Michael applies the “Looping Factor” to social media, where the opportunity lies in garnering likes and disseminating information. The unpredictable reward manifests when one wakes up the next morning to either find their content has received just a couple of likes or has gone viral, thus fostering a cycle of rapid repetition driven by the allure of the reward.

This human attraction to the “Looping Factor” loop, as explained by Easter, can be traced back to our evolutionary history. It harks back to the days when humans had to hunt for food for survival, with the opportunity being the chance to find sustenance. The unpredictable reward is akin to transitioning from meager food findings to discovering a bountiful feast daily. Naturally, the imperative to ensure survival perpetuates the repetition of this behavior.