A casino is a place where people can gamble and play games of chance. It can be as simple as a small, informal game of baccarat in a private home or as elaborate as the Venetian Macau in east Asia. Casinos can be a place for family fun, an escape from the stress of daily life or a way to win big money.
Like any business, casinos make money by charging an edge to players who bet against the house. This may be less than two percent of each bet, but millions of bets per day add up. This advantage is known as the vig (short for vigorish) or rake. Casinos also collect fees from video poker and slot machines to offset this edge.
While some casinos have a reputation for glamour and excess, most are relatively safe places to visit. Security begins at the ground level, where staff watch patrons and games carefully for blatant cheating and theft. Casinos also employ a wide range of technological tools to prevent these problems, from high-tech eye-in-the-sky surveillance systems that can be adjusted by security workers to focus on suspicious patrons, to roulette wheels with built-in microcircuitry that can be monitored and alerted to any statistical deviation.
Casinos target a certain type of customer, namely older adults with above-average incomes who have enough leisure time and disposable cash to spend on gambling. They provide free or reduced-fare transportation, luxury living quarters and special food and entertainment to attract these customers.