weird casino carpets

June 28, 2005 9:47 PM

Casino carpet gallery. [via scrubbles.net]
posted by mediareport (17 comments total)

I believe the idea behind casino carpet is to make it difficult for you to find your chips if you happen to drop one.

(Or maybe it's to overwhelm your senses with bright, loud colors, I don't know. )
posted by meh at 10:10 PM on June 28, 2005

I thought it was so the vomit and beer stains wouldn't show up.
posted by peacay at 10:25 PM on June 28, 2005

It's to attract the lizard people. Or fend them off. Can't remember.

*huffs ether, gazing deeply into the carpet, while absentmindedly cleaning large pistol*
posted by loquacious at 10:35 PM on June 28, 2005

Now these are some fantastic shoes. Represent yo casino!
posted by mosch at 10:58 PM on June 28, 2005

.
posted by nervousfritz at 11:01 PM on June 28, 2005

hell what I meant to put was [this is good]

He has the same "carpeting" ie background color as Metafilter does it looks like...
posted by nervousfritz at 11:15 PM on June 28, 2005

Cool link, mediareport.
posted by ori at 12:34 AM on June 29, 2005

I can't believe it didn't struck me as obvious that someone was going to do something like that.

I don't know which one is my favorite, but I certainly can tell I don't like Grand Casino Gulfport.

Boxing cats?

Also:

Schwartz has also worked in the front lines of the industry--not as a summer office intern, but on the casino floor as a security officer and above the casino as a surveillance operator. Through these experiences, he has developed a knowledge of casino operations that, combined with his academic research, makes him an invaluable consultant on gaming and related issues.

From the horse's mouth, I guess.
posted by NewBornHippy at 1:05 AM on June 29, 2005

Fun. I kind of expected some samples to be a little worn out, given the heavy foot traffic seen by casinos. Some of the more rococo rugs look like the kind of thing my mom would love to have in her living room.
posted by PY at 1:06 AM on June 29, 2005

Its funny how he calls the carpet deliberately ugly. I'm inclined to think, rather, that what can work, and be beautiful in a casino, isn't the same as what looks right in Joe Average's home. opulence has its place.

Now if he'd please add panels of the stone/tile work in casinos, I'd be happy.
posted by Goofyy at 4:59 AM on June 29, 2005

A great site, a great sight. Very cool.
posted by blindsam at 5:10 AM on June 29, 2005

I used to work for a company that installed the carpeting for every casino floor (at that time) in Atlantic City. They're specially designed for several reasons. The main two - so that your eye doesn't linger on them, and instead is forced up to focus on where the tables and the slot machines are, and - that the busy pattern and bright colors work subliminally to make gamblers more aggressive and more risk-taking. The busy patterns also serve to break up the long expanses of nothingness when the casino doesn't have a lot of foot traffic. A solid carpet on long empty aisles would look like an airport runway, which people would find depressing. The fact that they hide stains very well is an added bonus.

My father used to be a pit boss at the Taj, and has told me a lot of stories of things that the casinos do to get people to gamble more, like piping in extra oxygen (way long before oxygen bars became popular) through the ventilation system, making sure there are no clocks anywhere on the casino floor, and the liberal use of the color red.
posted by iconomy at 5:44 AM on June 29, 2005

I actually like this one.
posted by BoringPostcards at 7:11 AM on June 29, 2005

Who needs 5 sheets of high powered acid, eh locquacious?

Mind bending carpets should be illegal!
posted by asok at 7:15 AM on June 29, 2005

I heart MeFi

great link.. thanks!
posted by cavalier at 7:31 AM on June 29, 2005

The oxygen thing is an urban legend.

The clocks bit is true. I can only think of three casinos, off the top of my head, that have windows which are clearly visible from the gaming areas.

I'm pretty sure the best pro-gambling strategy is the age old "free booze" approach.
posted by mosch at 8:49 AM on June 29, 2005

i've been fascinated by casino carpet ever since the movie version of fear and loathing in las vegas, which seemed to just vibrate on screen with all those garish backgrounds. thanks for the link, mediareport.
posted by 3.2.3 at 10:07 AM on June 29, 2005