It’s happened to all of us: You stride into the Luxor or Mohegan Sun brimming with confidence and your wallet filled with cash, with plans for an enjoyable, sensible night of gaming and maybe two rounds of drinks. Hours later, you’re sitting at the ATM wondering how your money disappeared so fast—and how it could be that you threw hundreds or even thousands away based on the literal roll of the dice, spin of the wheel, or draw of the cards. How do casinos do it? It takes a lot of noise, light, and physical design to trick people into spending more than they can afford.

Casino, the 1995 movie from director Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, does an epic job of showing the darker side of Vegas, one that’s often glossed over in other movies set there or that simply show opulence and weekend parties. The film lays bare the mafia’s past connections to Vegas and explains how large gambling corporations came to dominate the desert city.

There’s no space for heroes in Casino, and the characters are mired in violence and avarice. But that’s not to say the movie doesn’t have its share of human tragedy. The torture-by-vice scene, a popped eyeball, and even the baseball bat beating of Sharon Stone’s Ginger are all shocking, but they serve to remind viewers that these characters’ lives aren’t simply fictional caricatures. Rather, they’re living proof of the adage that “the house always wins.”