A casino is a facility where people can gamble by playing games of chance or, in some cases, skill. Craps, roulette, blackjack, baccarat and video poker are popular games in casinos, which earn billions of dollars in profits for their owners every year. The facility itself is often opulent, with lighted fountains, luxurious hotels and elaborate themes.
Casinos make their money through a variety of ways, including offering comps to high rollers and taking a percentage of the money bet by lesser bettors. They also use complicated electronic monitoring systems to keep track of what is happening in the rooms, and they are often guarded by security personnel with weapons at their sides.
While the games of chance are the primary draw, some casinos offer a wide variety of other entertainment options, such as musical shows, restaurants and shopping centers. Some have giant pyramids, towers or replicas of famous landmarks on their property to attract visitors from around the world.
Table games, where players compete against the casino, are a major source of revenue for casinos, with a small advantage given to the house based on mathematic odds. In some cases, the house edge is quite low and may be as little as two percent, but in other games it can be significantly higher. This advantage is called the vig or rake, and it earns casinos enough to build their elaborate buildings and other attractions.
Something about gambling (perhaps the presence of large amounts of money) seems to encourage people to cheat or steal in order to win, and this is why casinos spend a lot of time and effort on security. Whether it is to protect the assets of the casino or its patrons, these measures include everything from metal detectors and closed circuit television cameras to full-time staff and random spot checks.
In the twentieth century, casinos began to focus more on the needs of high-rollers. These wealthy patrons usually gamble in special rooms away from the main casino floor and are treated to free spectacular entertainment, reduced-fare transportation, elegant living quarters and other perks. High rollers can spend tens of thousands of dollars per visit, and this money makes up a substantial part of the casino’s gross profit. Many casinos offer these high rollers “comps” worth a great deal of money in order to lure them back and keep them spending. Casinos also invest in elaborate surveillance systems, which provide a high-tech “eye in the sky” that can watch all tables, windows and entrances at the same time. The cameras can be adjusted to focus on suspicious patrons by casino security workers in a separate room filled with banks of security monitors. The videos are recorded, so that if an incident occurs, it can be analyzed to determine who the perpetrator was.