A casino is a gambling establishment that offers games of chance and, in some cases, skill. Casinos earn billions of dollars each year for the corporations, investors, and Native American tribes that operate them, as well as local and state governments that tax them.
Although a casino is mostly an environment of noise, light, and excitement, the game rules are designed to give the house an advantage over gamblers. This advantage is mathematically determined by the expected value of a bet, and it’s rare for a casino to lose money on its games for more than one day. This virtual guarantee of gross profit has made casinos the most lucrative of all gambling enterprises. Casinos also reward frequent players with free goods and services (comps) such as food, drinks, hotel rooms, airline tickets, and limo service.
While casino gambling has a long and varied history, it didn’t gain momentum until organized crime figures became heavily involved in Reno and Las Vegas. Mobster money gave the casinos a financial base that allowed them to expand and hire additional staff. It also made the owners willing to overlook the seamy reputation of gambling, which was illegal in many other states at that time.
Modern casinos employ a large physical security force that patrols the casino floor and responds to calls for assistance and suspicious or definite criminal activity. They also have a specialized surveillance department that operates the casino’s closed-circuit television system, commonly referred to as the “eye in the sky.” The cameras are located throughout the facility and can be adjusted to focus on certain suspicious patrons by security workers in a room filled with banks of monitors.
