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State of Play’s TL;DR
- The old claim that casinos removed clocks and sunlight to trick gamblers into staying longer is getting a fact-check.
- Surprisingly, a casino expert says players at one time actually preferred it that way.
The idea is one of Las Vegas’ most durable stories: dark casino floors, no clocks, no windows, and players losing track of time. But author Bill Friedman said that explanation is more myth than settled fact.
The longtime casino executive said the practice was driven by player preference, while modern casino design has largely moved in the opposite direction.
Friedman, author of “Casino Management” (1974) and “Designing Casinos to Dominate the Competition” (2000), said the clocks-and-windows theory was a “myth.” He said casinos removed them because “it was the serious players who demanded they remove them by threatening not to return.”
In a 2024 interview, Friedman added that gamblers “don’t want time” because “they are in a fantasy and an escape world.”
‘Playground’ model introduced in 1980s
Friedman ran the Castaways Hotel and Casino and the Silver Slipper Casino from 1977 through 1990, during the era when many Las Vegas Strip properties favored darker, enclosed gaming spaces.
Beginning in 1980, Steve Wynn and designer Roger Thomas developed a competing “playground” model at the Golden Nugget, emphasizing luxury, art, and high-end furnishings instead of maze-like, low-light layouts. That approach later influenced major Las Vegas resorts including The Mirage, Bellagio, and Wynn.
Today, many casinos feature natural light in lounges, sportsbooks, and even near slot areas. And as a practical matter, keeping clocks out of sight is less meaningful when nearly every guest carries a phone.
The more current debate, according to the report, is not about windows. It is about machine design. In her 2012 book, “Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas,” Natasha Dow Schüll argues that video slots can create a “solitary, absorptive activity” that erodes a player’s sense of time and space.
Based on reporting by Corey Levitan for Casino.org.
