If you have been to Las Vegas, Macau, or Monaco (or Mayfair for that matter) you might have noticed on your travels that most casinos don´t have clocks. Why is that? Do they have an aversion to telling the time or something?

Well, it´s a marketing ploy of course, along the same line as the Muzak you´ll hear drilling into your brain at a shopping mall. The main aim of this practice is to help you to forget the time and stay in the casino longer. And the longer you are in the casino, the more chance they have of winning some money off you. If you have scooped the jackpot, the casino is not going to claw any of its money back if you leave!

There´s an easy remedy to this- always wear a watch! Casinos want you to forget about the time and just lose yourself in the games. Set a time limit (or even an alarm!) for your session. Beat them at their own game.

The most successful players are those that employ a "Hit and Run" strategy (The late Kerry Packer, one of the world´s most famous casino high rollers was a past master at this. Think of yourself as a member of a crack commando unit (you can even "Go Commando" if you must, it´s hot in Vegas). Make a plan before you go in. Blitz in to the casino and stick to your profit/stop loss plan to the letter. High tail it out of there when you have hit your numbers! Remember, these days, there are plenty of other great things to see in these towns (particularly on The Strip)- go to a show or a great restaurant, for example. Mix it up!

Most casinos don´t have windows either (again, a trick of the trade to help you lose your sense of time). And you´ll notice that the ambient lighting dims and brightens at wierd intervals to give you the impression that the sun is still up. (One noteable and refreshing exception to this is the new Wynn Encore in Las Vegas which does have windows by some of its gaming tables. Halelujah for all of us who aren´t vampires or zombies).

Other tricks that you might want to be aware of:

• The dealers are very fast, the slots are fast- everything is fast! The casinos want you to play fast, as they need to "churn" through your money to have a chance of taking it off you. Set your own pace! Play as slow as you like (you might need to pick it up at the blackjack tables, but if you are playing slots, you make the decision when to hit the buttons. if you are playing roulette, sit out a few games).
• It´s not just Club Tropicana where the drinks are free. The casinos love a drunk, so drink with moderation when you are betting. It´s the same theory as getting behind the wheel of a car: Don´t Drink and Bet! It just makes you too confident and you´ll end up making silly bets.
• The casinos will want to change your money into chips as soon as possible. Why? Because it doesn´t feel like real money. Most people are looser with chips than actual notes. If you played roulette by placing $10 bills on the table rather than chips, do you think you would bet so much? So..play the casinos at their own game. If you do have a big win- change the chips back into notes as soon as you can and put the notes in your wallet. You can always change them back if you want (but I bet you don´t). If you keep the chips too long, you´ll just end up betting them.