How Sense of Time Changes Between Different Online Casino Games?

Land-based casinos are well known for employing psychological tricks designed to make people lose a sense of time. Among the most famous of those is not displaying any clocks or windows on the premises. Casino floors are also designed in a way to sucks players deep into its bowels where the table games are, heavily immersing players and keeping them there.

Perhaps lesser known are the gamification features built into slot machines themselves, like purposely showing frequent near-misses, celebrating the smallest of wins with a fanfare or noise and animations, and even the thematic design of games themselves. It’s all designed to boost player engagement by making them focus deeper on what they are doing, rather than watching the clock.

When it comes to online casinos, the situation is a little different. Just have a look at licensed platforms, such as those reviewed and rated by Legalcasino.uk, an expert platform analysing gambling sites. They are required to display clocks for players. They also provide various responsible gaming tools, including time limits and reality checks, which help users keep track of how long they’ve been playing.

However, it can still be difficult to stay aware of the passing hours when a gambling site is available 24/7 and offers a wide mix of slots, live dealer titles, and classic table games. But do all games work in the same way, or does the sense of time shift between different types of online casino play?

Slot Machines

Slot machines are arguably more disruptive to time than any other form of casino game. They are purposely designed that way, from the graphics to the music and gamification features, which keep players completely engaged.

Slot machines are also fast-paced, giving rapid results after each press of the spin button, which means that players can keep hitting it, almost automatically, in a cycle of initial action, brief anticipation and then the final result. The games provide immediate feedback from an action, whether it’s a win, a loss or the triggering of some feature like a mini game.

The animations of a slot machine play a big role too, as they strongly reinforce the loop of engaging excitement, and combined, it’s easy to sit there and watch result after result spin its way in, which can become a time sink.

Hypnotic Roulette

Roulette doesn’t quite match the speed of often frenetic slots play, but it’s still engrossing by its nature. The rounds of action naturally take a lot longer than the spin of a slot’s reels, not only because time is needed to reset the table, but also to give players time to put their bets down for the next one.

The spin of the roulette wheel is where the sense of anticipation builds, and this dramatic wait to see exactly where the ball lands is a big psychological hook. Although it’s not going to change the outcome of a spin, it’s hard not to lose time just hypnotically staring at the wheel going round and round, waiting for that ball to drop.

Blackjack

Blackjack provides a little more hands-on action than roulette, because strategy comes into play as a player has to decide what action to take next, as they play the percentages against the dealer’s up card. This, therefore, demands a little more attention than other games, certainly more than slots.

There is no time pressure in blackjack to make a decision, although it’s not great etiquette to keep other players waiting for too long. It’s that increased focus and thinking about strategy, which can make a player lose time. There are, however, natural lulls in the game, which means that players can grab more of a mental break to reset and even check their watch.

Slow Paced Poker

Taking the pace down even further is poker. Games can take a long time because players need to take their time over deliberate decisions. Taking time to think is crucial because of the mental gymnastics that are going on about what the right play is. Poker players are probably acutely aware of how much time they are taking.

Each round of poker can be very different, keeping the challenge fresh, and therefore, it is not quite as much of a reactive loop as playing at a slot machine is going to be. The passage of time can slip by still during extended playing sessions, but again, in between hands, there’s usually time to take stock of surroundings and step out of the game briefly to regain mental focus.

Repetition Is the Key

All games, from poker to baccarat and keno, have their unique traits, and time can be lost on all of them. But the measure of time when playing them can differ, depending on the pace, and slot machines arguably provide players with the greatest amount of “time-loss” due to the rapid and cyclic nature of the actions involved with them.

In any casino game it’s important to stick to responsible play and keep an eye on the clock. All licensed platforms provide special tools such as time limits and trackers, which can be used to give yourself mental checks. A simple but effective method is also putting a timer on your phone to remind you to take a break.