A casino is a gambling establishment that offers a variety of games of chance. These games may include slot machines, blackjack, roulette, craps, baccarat and poker. Casinos also host events that allow patrons to participate in tournaments for a chance to win cash or other prizes. The majority of revenue generated by casinos comes from gambling. While musical shows, lighted fountains and shopping centers help draw in visitors, the billions of dollars in profits raked in by casinos would not exist without games of chance.
The word “casino” is a compound of Italian terms, casa (house) and gioco (game). Early modern Europeans borrowed the idea of a public house where people could meet to play games like poker, backgammon and billiards from the Middle East, where such meetings had been customary.
In the United States, the first legal casinos opened in Nevada during the 1950s. The owners realized that they needed large sums of money to invest in renovations and expansion, but legitimate businessmen were reluctant to provide the necessary capital because casinos had a tainted image. Mafia leaders were more willing to take the risk and provided the funds that allowed Nevada’s casinos to grow into the spectacular entertainment complexes we know today.
To maximize profits, casinos focus on customer service and offer free or discounted items to gamblers. These perks are known as comps. They can include free drinks, food and hotel rooms. In the 1970s, Las Vegas casinos were famous for their deeply discounted travel packages and free show tickets. These promotional strategies were designed to attract large numbers of people who would spend lots of money gambling.
Because of the vast amounts of money handled within a casino, both patrons and staff may be tempted to cheat or steal. This is why most casinos have extensive security measures in place. These are often in the form of cameras that monitor every area of the facility. Some casinos also have catwalks that extend over the casino floor, allowing surveillance personnel to look directly down through one-way glass on the activities of individual tables and slot machines.
Most casino patrons are average wage earners, but some are high rollers who place bets in the tens of thousands of dollars. High-stakes players are given special treatment that can include free or reduced-fare transportation, luxury accommodations and even limousine service. In addition, they are offered comps that can add up to substantial sums of money. Casinos use mathematicians and computer programmers to calculate the house edge of each game and its variance, which is a measure of the variability of winnings. This information is useful to the casino’s management and security personnel in detecting potential cheating or theft. These mathematicians and computer scientists are known as gaming mathematicians or gaming analysts.