A casino is a place where a variety of games of chance are offered and where gambling is the primary activity. Many casinos add other luxuries to attract customers such as restaurants, free drinks and stage shows. The casinos also spend a lot of money on security because cheating and theft are common.
Something about gambling (perhaps the presence of large amounts of cash) encourages people to try and make a quick buck by dishonest means. Gambling games themselves may be played for the pure joy of winning, or as a way to pass the time. There is even a casino in the elegant spa town of Baden-Baden, Germany, built over a century ago to lure royalty and the European aristocracy.
In the United States, the casinos that draw the most tourists are in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. However, Nevada and other states have a number of smaller casinos that are open to the public. In addition, Native American casinos have become increasingly popular.
Although casinos began as a way to keep organized crime figures’ money in Nevada, mobster money soon faded due to federal crackdowns on their rackets. Legitimate investors such as real estate developers and hotel chains realized the potential of casinos and bought out the Mafia.
Casinos have many security measures in place, including cameras that watch every table, window and doorway. Often these cameras are adjusted by security workers in a separate room filled with banks of monitors to focus on suspicious patrons. Casinos have also incorporated technology into the actual games themselves. For example, some table games such as roulette and craps feature “chip tracking,” which allows the casino to know exactly how much each player is betting minute-by-minute.