Psychological Games Casinos and their Regulators Play
Power Poker Psychology
by James A. McKenna, Ph.D

This is Part 3 on Psychological Games in the gaming industry. All the conditions needed for psychological games exist between Casinos and their regulators. Psychological games, by definition, are unconscious.

So, it is not uncommon for people playing these games to deny that there are any games going on. There are three areas for potential games—namely, 1. the players and dealers, 2. the gaming industry and the public, and 3. the casinos and their regulators.

This third area of psychological games between the casinos and the regulators seems to be the cleanest. This does not mean that games do not exist. It means that the internal controls that have been established have been successful in keeping psychological games to a minimum.

However, Casinos still must meet endless requirements to maintain their licenses. This means that in a conflict of wills, the regulators have all the “Aces.”

The Drama of Games
Psychological Games come complete with the drama of Victims, Persecutors, and Rescuers. Games between players and the gaming industry will move around this triangle. For instance, Players will move from Victims to Persecutors, complaining about a dealer or a rule. Then too, Commissions may Rescue with rules to protect the public from the “Persecuting Casinos.” The dynamics of these games is that players, casinos, and regulating bodies will not stay in the Victim, Persecutor, or Rescuer roles. As soon as one is a Victim, another will Rescue, then even switch to becoming the Persecutor. An example may be how casinos used to welcome regulators making rules about “card counters” in blackjack. Here the Casinos play the role of the Victim and the Commission or Legislature Rescues them from their Persecutors (people who keep accurate count and diminish the house odds). Recently, it was determined that card counting was not illegal. So now those rescued are the good players who pay attention to what has been dealt. While feeling victimized by the new ruling, the casinos will proceed to become the Persecutors. How? Well, for one, increase the shoe-cut to only 30-40% penetration and refuse to deal much of the shoe by increasing the number of shuffles per shoe.

The Cost of Games
It seems, however, that the games that do exist between casinos and their regulators would be in the areas of following the rules “to the letter” and perhaps “tweaking” on procedures or interpretations of the rules. An example of this could be rules around the ratio of supervisors per pit of seven gaming tables. The “big book” of internal controls may call for one supervisor for each pit of seven tables. In areas such as this, the interpretation of the attending regulating agent may be subject to our game formula. For instance, is the poker room (that has more than seven tables) considered a pit? Some regulators may require two supervisors where others may interpret the poker room is not defined as a pit. Is it a game when a regulator insists that his interpretation of the rule is final? Remember, the regulators hold the “Aces,” whenever there is a game of wills.

The consequences of playing games for the casinos (if caught) are too severe. They could lose their licenses and their businesses.

It’s also important to realize that in psychological games, both sides obtain a payoff – for example, one ends up being righteous and the other may feel victimized. These payoffs are more likely on the people level between agents and casino employees. In looking at the bigger picture, the agreed-upon book of internal controls keeps the casinos and the commissions essentially game free.

Still, however, whenever there’s a problem between the gambler and the casino, guess who gets the credit? Like the devil, “The Commission made me do it!”

James A. McKenna, PhD., has been a practicing individual and group therapist for over thirty-five years. His knowledge of human behavior combined with over thirty years of gaming experience gives him a unique perspective on the psychology of the gamer. His book, “Beyond Tells-Power Poker Psychology,” will be published soon by Gambling Times. He can be contacted at: jim@JimMckenna-phd.com.

This story is published in the Aug 25th 2003 edition of Poker Player.

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