What is a Casino?
A casino is a gambling establishment with a number of games for people to play. It is operated by a casino owner or group of owners, and is usually located in a resort destination such as a tourist attraction. There are several kinds of casino games, including table games and slot machines. Most of these games have a built in advantage for the casino, and this advantage is the source of the billions of dollars that casinos make each year.
Casinos attract gamblers from all over the world with their bright lights, elaborate hotels and enticing games of chance. While musical shows, lighted fountains and shopping centers can draw in customers, casinos would not exist without the billions of dollars that patrons bet every year on games of chance like slots, blackjack, roulette, craps, keno and baccarat.
The large amounts of money handled in casinos may lead both patrons and staff to cheat or steal, either in collusion or independently. This is why casinos spend a great deal of time and effort on security. Security measures begin on the casino floor, where employees keep an eye on patrons for signs of cheating or stealing, such as palming or marking cards, changing dice, or tampering with slot machine payouts. The casino also employs “higher-up” personnel, such as pit bosses and table managers, who have a broader view of the entire casino and can spot suspicious betting patterns. In addition, casinos have cameras in the ceiling that can be focused on specific tables or windows by security workers in a separate room filled with banks of video monitors.
