How Online Betting & Fantasy Apps Fool You! | Business Model

 Hello, friends!

In the last few years, the popularity of online betting apps has increased rapidly in India. From big celebrities to YouTubers and cricketers, they are now seen promoting them. They are promoted on the jerseys of the IPL teams. They are promoted in the middle of the IPL. And in all promotions, basically, there's only one thing repeatedly promoted. 

How you too can earn thousands of rupees sitting at home? 

You can earn lakhs of rupees. You can earn crores of rupees. But in reality, the purpose of these apps is quite the contrary. To rob your money. To make you a gambling addict. In this article, I will not name these apps. Otherwise, they will use some excuse like copyright, to get this article removed. In fact, I will explain their business model in a different way. Their traditional and original form is Casinos.

 What psychological tricks do casinos use to fool people and loot their money? 

 Let's understand this in this article. And as you understand, you will see that similar tactics are being used by online betting apps nowadays. 'Casino' is actually a word from the word Casa, which is an Italian word meaning a house. In American history, the old gambling establishments were called saloons. In these saloons,

 travellers used to come and meet each other. There used to be social gatherings. There would be food and drinks. And often people would gamble with each other. These small-scale gamblings during social gatherings, is very common in India. Like playing Tambola.

 It has been a part of many cultures. More or less, it has been harmless and a 'fun' activity throughout history. And casinos were also made for this purpose originally. Today, their name might have remained the same but their purpose is completely different. Now, their focus is only on earning as much money as possible. And this happens only when people are made addicted to gambling. Because for any casino, their primary income source is their gambling games. Basically, there are three general categories of casino games. 

First, gaming machines. 

Second, table games. 

And third, random number games. 

Gaming machines like slot machines,

 which are usually played by one player at a time. The other employees of the casino are not involved in this. Secondly, these table games like Blackjack or Craps

 can be played by more than one player. And often these players compete against the "House". The "House" is the casino itself. These table games are organised by the casino employees Who are called Dealers. And thirdly, these random number games like Keno or Bingo,

 in which random numbers are generated either by a computer or by an employee. Many casino games can combine the different aspects of these three categories. Like roulette,

 is a table game conducted by a dealer. It also involves random numbers. Now you might think that playing these games means that it is a game of luck. If your luck is good, you will win some money. But if you look at things from the perspective of a casino, then none of these are games of luck. No matter who is playing or how many times, it is guaranteed that the casino will always win. All games are designed in such a way that in a certain time frame, all games will guarantee a profit for the casino. The expected profit is called House Edge. This is basically the probability that tells how much everything is in favour of the casino. Let's take the example of a roulette game. The American style roulette, is basically a wheel with numbers on the edge.

 From 1 to 36. Half of the numbers are in red and half are in black. You bet on whether the ball will stop at red or black. If your guess is correct, you will win the money. You think that your chance of winning is 50-50. But if this was the case, the chance of earning profit for the casino would have been 0. If 10 people come to bet, half of them bet on black and half on red, half of them will win the money.  Casinos will not get anything for themselves. That's why there is a small detail here that many people miss. This wheel also has two green-coloured zeros. The numbers begin from here.

 On one side, zero and on the other, double zero. If the ball stops on these, the casino will win. So, if player chooses red or black, their chance of winning is actually 18/38, which is approximately 47.4%. And in any game, the house edge will be 2/38, which is 5.26%. This means that, in a casino, on a roulette table, if $1 million is spent by people betting over the course of a month, So, the management of the casino expects to earn a profit of around $50,000. Approximately 5% of 1 million. And Roulette is still considered as a game where your chances of winning are one of the highest in the casino. Because the House Edge is very low here. Usually, the House Edge of the casino for other games, can reach up to 20% or 40%. Apart from roulette, blackjack, video poker, sic bo, are some examples of games where the house edge is very low and it is believed that in these games, the gamblers have the best chance of winning. But the most dangerous games are those in which computer programming can be done from the backend. Like slot machines. The concept of slot machines is very simple. It looks like this.

 You press a button or lower the lever. Inside this, the wheels move and you see different symbols. If you get a winning combination of symbols, you will win. A winning combination can be like a symbol being shown 5 times in a row. Then you will win the lottery. Many people think that if they play this game, they have a fair chance of winning. But there can't be a more unfair game than this. 

What is the actual backend computer programming?

  Because it is up to the casino, they can manipulate it as they wish. One is that they should program it in such a way that their profit is maximized. They should earn maximum money. You might think that this means that whoever plays on this slot machine, should always lose. Only then will the casino earn the most money. But if this happens, then no one will play this game again. That's why another thing is considered while programming. People should become addicted to this machine. And the best way to make them addicted is to let the player win a little once in a while. But let them win only to the extent that they remain addicted to it. Only the casino gets maximum profit. Many psychological techniques are used here. Let's see one by one. 

First of all, as I told you to make people addicted to it. The machine manufacturers use a term for this. Time on Device. Their purpose is to maximize Time on Device and to maximize profit as well. 

First, it should be ensured that People do not face any kind of interruption while playing. So that people remain focused on their game and do not get distracted. For this, slot machines are made very fast. You get to know the response in a few seconds. And the machine is instantly ready to spin a second time. In fact, a slot machine can spin up to 500 times in an hour. In the other card games, the shuffling takes time.

 People can get distracted and lose focus. 

Secondly, a perception is created that you are in control. Because you are lowering the lever or pressing the button. So you feel that you have played the game and the result will be of your action. This gives an illusion of control. People enjoy playing those games where they feel they are in control. 

Third, when these symbols stop moving, you feel excitement. Because you see that it is arranged in a way that you almost won.

 A symbol might be forming a pattern of 3. A bit more and you would have won. This is a psychological trick to make you an addict. The machine deliberately stops in a way that you always feel as if you were just about to win. You almost won. Because of this feeling, you get a sense of excitement. You feel that it was not a coincidence. You were in control, you were just about to win. So you ignore the loss. After 4-5 more tries, and then you see Ding Ding Ding! You actually won! Dopamine floods your body. You feel truly happy. But this was the next psychological trick to mislead you. This victory that you are being granted is just a small victory. Overall, if you have invested ₹1,000, by losing the last games, and you won ₹600. You feel like you have won, but this is called Loss Disguised As A Win. This is the way to keep you addicted. In an unpredictable way, keep giving small rewards to people from time to time so that people keep coming back to play. Another interesting psychological phenomenon is at play here, called Gambler's Fallacy. This is basically a feeling that some people get where if they are losing one game after the other for a long time, they feel like they will definitely win the next game. Afterall, how many times can a person lose in a single game? For example, if you toss a coin 10 times and get tails all 10 times, you think that you will definitely get heads the next time. It is highly unlikely that you will get tails 11 consecutive times. But in reality, the chances at each coin toss, remains 50-50. The chances of winning or losing did not change. This famous fallacy is also called the Monte Carlo Fallacy because on 18th August 1913, a roulette game was played in Monte Carlo Casino. Where the ball fell in the black space 26 times in a row.

 The gamblers who were gambling there lost millions of francs because they thought that since it landed on black for 20-21 times in a row, and the next time it would definitely land on red. But the ball landed on black 26 times consecutively. 

The next psychological trick is related to senses. In any casino, you won't find a watch. Nor will there be any windows.

 Because no casino owner wants you to get distracted by looking out the window. You should be focused solely on these games. You should be so addicted that you lose your perception of time. 

Who knows if it is day or night outside? 

You've spent hours here, but you should not realise that. By the way, many streaming and social media platforms also use this tactic. If you are watching a TV show on an OTT app, after the episode ends, it is written immediatel

 "Next episode starting in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Because they don't want to give you time to think whether it's too late to watch TV. Whether you should switch off the TV and work. No, automatically the next episode will start before you click on it. The same is done on apps like TikTok and Instagram Reels. You watch a reel, and then you don't have to do anything. After it's over, the next reel is automatically shown to you. Their purpose is to keep you addicted. To stop you from getting even a little time to think. Because if you get even a few seconds to think, you might stop using this app at that moment. let's understand more psychological tricks of this gambling industry. Here, the sense of smell is also often used, the perfume which is sprayed in the casinos. Dr Alan Hirsch,

 founder and director of Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation studied and found out that in Las Vegas, when a special scent was sprayed in the slot machine area, the casino earned 50% more. Because of the smell, the moods of the gamblers was a little lifted up and they wanted to spend more time in the casino. Your sense of sound is also used to mislead you. The sounds produced by the slot machines in the casinos,

 are in C note, which is universally considered pleasant. Not only that, attention is paid to every little thing. The colours used in the machines, the shape and the size of the buttons, All of them have been chosen in such a way that more and more people become addicted to gambling. You will always see that gold colour is used in slot machines, it is very colourful.

 It should feel like a treasure. People are driven by greed telling them that they can win the treasure, if only they were to play. A study by a psychiatrist at Brown University, Robert Breen, found that people who play slot machines become addicted to gambling 3-4 times faster as compared to people who play cards. In America, approximately 65-80% of the money earned by a casino comes solely from slot machines. But it's not just about individual games. The whole casino is designed in such a way that you go in and become addicted to gambling. People who go to the casino for the first time, are often offered free drinks by the management. They are often given some free coins. Like, take this $10, and play worth $10 for free. You can try and play whichever game you want to. And any money you win is yours. People think it's great, since they won't lose any money, they start playing. And when people start winning some money, then they get greedy, they think that since the won with free money, it means that they have the skills, and the good luck to win more. Then people invest their money and gradually some people become addicted. Often, casinos have found another way to earn money by being placed inside hotels. When people come to stay in hotels, they would want to look around the casinos, and invest money. The most profitable casino in the world is actually in Galaxy Macau. In 2019,

 the annual revenue was $8 billion. This casino is not a distinct entity, rather, it is part of an integrated casino resort.

 An area with more than 3,000 hotel rooms, 120 restaurants, and more than 200 luxury retail brands. Now you must be wondering what is the comparison of casinos with these online betting apps. There is a comparison and a lot of it. All these psychological tricks are being applied in a similar way. Like slot machines, these online betting apps are also computer programmed. And you can guess that this computer program is trying to maximize those two variables. The profit that is earned by the app and the time that people are spending on these apps. To ensure this, the app is designed in such a way. 

First, The user interface of these apps is very bright and engaging. Visual cues are added. Whenever you win, you get flashing lights or cheerful sounds, which makes you happy. If you have ever noticed, many of these betting apps don't have a dark mode. Even when you activate the dark mode on your phone, the interface remains white and bright. Maybe the same logic can be compared to casinos where there are no windows. 

Second, notifications are used to create a sense of urgency, which triggers an impulsive betting. You will get real-time updates about cricket games or bets that are often placed on these apps so that you get a Fear Of Missing Out, FOMO. 

Third, similar to the free drinks given in casinos or a free bonus when you go for the first time, these apps also have sign-up bonuses. There are free bets.

 When you go to join these apps for the first time. Those who have never placed a bet, get an incentive to try this app, since they are being offered free money. 

Fourth, like the illusion of control created in slot machines, through levers and buttons, here an illusion of control is created by providing you with a lot of data and tools.

 They want you to believe that the game you are playing here is a game of skill, not a game of luck. They give you the option to analyze data from cricket matches. To use different tools to analyze which team is performing better. They convince you that you can increase your chances of winning. All this is giving you an Illusion of Control. You feel you have the power to decide whether you will be able to win or not. It is true that to some extent skill is involved indeed. But more or less, this is still a game of luck. And more than luck, this is a pre-programmed game. You don't know the backend programme and what goes on hidden from sight. The numerous ways that are being used to maximize the House Edge. You don't know. How near wins and losses disguised as wins are used to manipulate you, Perhaps, you may not be able to identify. There are many betting apps. There are different types of games on these apps. And in every game, these tricks are used in different ways. 

Another way is to provide social validation to people. On these betting apps. You will find Leaderboards. Showing the people at the top.

 Those who have won the most number of times. And the points they have scored. And then you are shown your rank. But you're told that you can climb ranks to the top. They tell you that you can share it with your friends to flaunt the big winning bet you have placed. This fosters a sense of competition. And the validation you get from this, encourages you to continue gambling. So even though I can't name these apps, I think that I have explained it to you well. You can observe for yourself how these psychological tricks, are used on you by different betting apps. To rob you and to make you a gambling addict. Remember one thing, if you want to earn money, it is not possible to earn money without value exchange. Money is a way of value exchange. You can only get money when you provide any value to others.

 Either in the form of your work, your skills, your knowledge, or transferring value in any other way. If you expect that money will flow to you while you're simply sitting at home, without this value exchange, then, please, forget it. Yes, there are 1-in-a-million people who win the lottery without doing anything, but they are not very happy in their lives. Search for news articles online, "lottery winners who lost it all." You will find so many stories. People who win the lottery without doing anything, they lose that money as quickly as that. Because they don't realize the real value of the money. I hope you found this article informative.  If you liked this, you can click here to watch more videos on Business Models.

Thank you very much.