How I Designed a Casino Game That Makes You Lose — And Why It Works

I didn’t set out to make people rich. I set out to understand why they keep playing when they know they’re losing.

Growing up in Chicago’s South Side as the child of Afro-Brazilian immigrants, I watched my grandmother count change after church on Sundays — same way players count spins after midnight. The church taught me patience. The streets taught me impulse. The casino taught me both.

At UIUC, I studied how dopamine spikes align with rhythm — not just in samba drums, but in the pulse of a slot machine’s bonus round. My three best-selling games? They weren’t flashy. They were felt. Players didn’t see reels — they felt the silence between wins.

I used eye-tracking heatmaps to find where eyes lingered longest before a bet. Then I tuned the Skinner box variables: small rewards for steady play, sudden jackpots for those chasing the high.

The ‘Samba Rooster Arena’? It wasn’t about Brazil. It was about the block party after rain — when the crowd danced because losing felt like dancing too.

RTP isn’t a number on a screen. It’s the quiet math of someone who stays past their budget because they believe tomorrow might be different.

I don’t sell games. I sell the illusion that control still exists… even when it doesn’t.