A casino is a building or room where people can gamble by playing games of chance for money. Some of these games are purely random, while others have an element of skill. The goal of the house is to make enough money on bets to cover their costs and, ideally, turn a profit. This profit is sometimes called the house edge. Casinos earn money from the edge, as well as from a percentage of all bets (called the vig or rake). In addition, they may give out complimentary items to players, known as comps.
Nevada was the first state to legalize casinos, and their popularity spawned many imitators. However, the ties between casinos and organized crime figures in Reno and Las Vegas helped tarnish their reputations and slow their growth outside of Nevada. Mobster money provided much of the initial capital for these establishments, and the mobsters often became personally involved, taking sole or partial ownership and exerting control over gambling operations.
Today, casinos compete not only with each other but also with non-gambling resorts and on-line gambling. They must constantly upgrade and innovate to attract and keep customers, who must be persuaded that a casino offers a better product than the competition. In addition, modern technology is widely used to monitor and enhance the gaming experience. For example, in some casinos, chips have built-in microcircuitry that enables the casino to verify their validity minute by minute; roulette wheels are electronically monitored to quickly discover any statistical deviations from expectations.
