We’ve all been there: you stride into a casino brimming with confidence and a wallet full of cash, ready for some enjoyable, sensible gambling. But hours later, you’re not sure what time it is, how many rounds of booze you’ve consumed, or where your money has gone. That’s because casinos are designed to make it difficult for you to walk away. They use sounds, lights, and physical design to manipulate your decisions and keep you gambling for longer than you intended.

A common tactic is to use chips or digital currency instead of cash. This creates a psychological disconnect between the money you’re spending and the actual value of your bets, encouraging you to place bigger bets because you feel less like you’re actually risking real cash. This is one of the primary reasons why so many people lose so much in Las Vegas.

Another trick is to keep you sucked in by constantly giving you free food and drinks. This is especially important if you’re losing money because it helps to mitigate the negative effects of your losses. Plus, if you’re getting comped meals or hotel stays, it keeps you from having to spend more of your money outside the casino to meet your basic needs.

But the bottom line is that, just like any other business, a casino needs to make more than it spends or it won’t be around for long. And while there may be a few lucky days in a row, the odds of hitting it big on a slot machine or a craps table are long.