Thoughts on the Feng Shui and Interior Design of a Casino

Tonight at the dinner table somehow the conversation subject was gambling.  It’s amazing what the boys learn from T.V.   My sons have never been to a casino so their information does not come from experience.  One of my sons said he recalled a TV program saying that one had a 49% chance of winning on the roulette table.  The other mentioned that he had heard that there are no windows or clocks in a casino because they do not want you know what time of day it is, so that you keep gambling.  They even knew that the casinos have one of the highest levels of oxygen in the air because they pump it in to keep gamblers awake.  I wonder how true this is.

A year and a half ago, my siblings and I were in Las Vegas to celebrate our mother’s 80th birthday.  My mother who lives in Honolulu loves Las Vegas and she’s not the only one.  The local residents of Hawaii charter planes to Vegas throughout the year.  I wondered what the attraction was.  According to my relatives, life in Hawaii is very yin; daily chores of cooking, cleaning, laundry, taking care of the grandchildren, working in the yard, etc.  Las Vegas is the yang to all of that, where they can escape their reality for a few days, not worrying about anyone else, it’s their Disneyland.  It gives them something to look forward to, and yes we all need balance.  Okay, let’s get back on topic; we were on the highly oxygenated casinos.  During our visit it was quite noticeable that the air quality at the casinos was less than ideal as there was the smell of cigarette smoke mingled with some type of fragrance.  It was like they were trying to mask the odors and not actually ventilate the air, which in my opinion, made it worse. And on top of all that, the flooring material was mainly carpet which absorbs all odors.  With no windows, poor ventilation and multiple odors, it is not a terribly healthy environment.

From a feng shui perspective, no windows also means no sunlight.  Many times we assess good qi or energy with how plants thrive in a space:  the healthier the plant the better the qi.  So using that as a guideline, one can conclude that the qi in the casino is stagnant.  To off set this, remember to take time away from the casino, go outside in the bright Nevada sunlight and embrace the qi to re-energize yourself.

From an interior design perspective, I wondered about how would one layout the slot and game machines.  My mother who is very perceptive says she noticed that the gaming machines near the escalators and major traffics paths and entries seemed to pay out quite well.  What a great observation!  By placing machines with bright lights, makes all sorts of noise and pay out often but probably not a huge sum of money,  near highly visible areas, the guest in passing would notice all the commotion.  This would make them think this particular casino was somewhere they had a chance of winning the odds, attracting them to stay and play. Amazing how strategic placement can influence us in a very subconscious way.  So, next time you hit a casino you can give this theory a try and look for a machine that is in the middle of everything, and if you do win, please let me know!  Good luck!