By adminredes Casinos are gambling centers that attract customers and generate income from games of chance. While musical shows, lighted fountains and shopping centers may help them draw tourists, casinos would not exist without slots, roulette, blackjack, poker, baccarat and craps—games that account for the billions of dollars in annual profits raked in by American casinos each year.
Although some casinos are open to the public, others are exclusive to club members and are regulated by law. Most casinos are designed to encourage gambling by offering extravagant inducements to big bettors. These include free spectacular entertainment, transportation and elegant living quarters. They also offer reduced-fare or free hotel rooms, food and drink and cigarettes while gambling.
Something about casinos (perhaps the large amounts of money involved) seems to encourage cheating, stealing and scamming, either in collusion with other patrons or independently. That’s why casinos spend a lot of time and money on security measures. In addition to a visible security force, they usually have a specialized surveillance department known as the eye-in-the-sky, which can monitor every table, window and doorway and be adjusted to focus on suspicious activity by the casino’s security staff.
When the elegant spa town of Baden-Baden first opened its doors to gamblers 150 years ago, it attracted royalty and aristocracy from across Europe. Today its gleaming rooms and red-and-gold poker tables are just as attractive to wealthy Europeans, but its patrons are more diverse than ever.