Casinos are facilities for playing games of chance and are often located near or attached to hotels, resorts, retail shopping, cruise ships, restaurants, or other tourist attractions. They are also known as gaming rooms.
Security and Safety at Casinos
A casino’s security starts on the floor, where employees keep an eye on the games. Dealers are trained to spot cheats like palming, marking or switching cards or dice, and table managers and pit bosses watch over the table games with a broader view.
Increasingly, casinos use video cameras and computers to monitor the games themselves. For example, roulette wheels are electronically monitored to identify any statistical deviation from expected results and the chips on betting tables interact with microchips that alert casinos if they’re being used for gambling.
Slot Machines
A slot machine is the most popular form of gambling in a casino, but there are also many other table games. These include poker, baccarat, roulette, blackjack and craps.
Casinos can give “comps” to players, or free goods and services, depending on how much money they spend and the amount of time they play. These comps may be hotel rooms, dinners, tickets to shows or other prizes.
A casino’s business model is designed to ensure that it makes a profit from each game. This advantage, called the house edge, is built into most of the games on its premises and translates into a positive return for the casino over time.