A casino is a facility where people can wager money on various events, such as poker, baccarat, craps and roulette. Some casinos also offer exotic games such as sic bo, fan-tan and pai gow. In general, casino gambling provides a long-term advantage to the house and a chance for players to make short-term gains. Skillful players can reduce or even eliminate this house edge, but they must be willing to lose large amounts of money in order to do so.
Regardless of their size or type, all casinos have one thing in common: they are all designed to make money. Successful ones rake in billions each year for the companies, investors, and Native American tribes that operate them. Local governments benefit as well, generating tax revenues from casino profits. In the end, however, it is the patrons who pay the price for the allure of casino gambling.
The word casino comes from the Latin cazino, which means “to try one’s luck”. In modern usage the term refers to a room or building used for social amusement, especially gambling. In its earliest forms, the casino was a place where musicians and dancers performed; by the second half of the 19th century it had become a collection of gaming rooms. Today’s casinos, often called megaresorts, are massive hotel and entertainment complexes that feature high-quality restaurants, designer shops and top-billed entertainers.
While most casino patrons are there for the gambling, many of them spend time in the hotels and other facilities. According to a survey conducted by Roper ASW and the Gallup Organization in 2003, almost 30% of all adult Americans have visited a casino within the previous twelve months. These trips are typically made in the company of family members, friends and acquaintances, and most patrons spend only a small portion of their total expenditures on actual gambling.
Casinos are often staffed by trained security guards, but they employ other measures to protect their assets and patrons. During the 1990s, casinos greatly increased their use of video cameras and computer technology to supervise gambling activities. Some examples are chip tracking, in which electronic systems monitor the exact amount of money wagered on each table minute-by-minute; or roulette wheels wired to a central server that can quickly discover any statistical deviation from expected results.
In addition to these technological advances, casinos enforce security through rules of conduct and behavior. Because large sums of money are handled inside a casino, both patrons and employees may be tempted to cheat or steal, either in collusion or independently. This is why most casinos have security cameras located throughout the facility. Some casinos have catwalks that allow surveillance personnel to look directly down, through one-way glass, on the activities on the casino floor.
