A casino is a place where people can play games of chance for money or other rewards. Modern casinos offer a variety of entertainment and other features, such as restaurants and shops. They are sometimes combined with hotels, resorts and cruise ships. The name comes from the Latin caino, meaning “gambling house”. While elaborate venues with lighted fountains, musical shows and dramatic scenery help draw customers, casinos would not exist without games of chance. Slot machines, blackjack, poker, roulette, craps and other games provide the billions of dollars in profits casinos rake in every year.
Until the 1950s, when Nevada made it legal to operate casinos, mafia figures provided much of the financing. They had plenty of cash from illegal rackets like extortion and drug dealing, and they were not bothered by gambling’s seamy image. They took sole or partial ownership of casinos and controlled many aspects of their operations.
Casinos rely on cameras and other technological equipment to keep patrons from cheating or committing crimes. For example, betting chips have built-in microcircuitry that interacts with electronic systems at table games to enable casinos to monitor the exact amounts wagered minute by minute; roulette wheels are electronically monitored regularly to discover any statistical deviation from their expected results. In addition, video monitors in the ceiling allow security personnel to see all tables, windows and doorways at once. Some casinos employ specialized mathematicians and computer programmers to analyze gaming data, called the house edge and variance, in order to maximize their profits.
