What Is a Casino?
A casino is a gambling establishment where people play a variety of games of chance. While many casinos add luxuries to help attract customers, such as restaurants, free drinks and stage shows, the basic idea is to provide an environment where people can gamble and win or lose money.
Although a casino offers an element of chance, the outcome of any individual game is ultimately determined by mathematics. This is known as the house edge. The house always has a slight advantage over players and, as a result, must make a profit.
The casino industry has a long history of organized crime involvement. The mob controlled much of the early gambling business in Nevada and other states where casinos were legal. They provided the bankroll for these establishments and, in some cases, took sole or partial ownership of some casinos. They also threw their weight behind certain games and skewed the odds in their favor.
As casinos became more established, they began to expand. Some built huge hotel-casinos that rivaled the Las Vegas Strip. Others branched out into regional markets, opening casinos in Iowa and elsewhere. Some even opened on Native American reservations, where gambling was already legal.
Modern casino security starts on the floor, where employees keep a close eye on the games and the patrons. They can spot blatant cheating or other problems quickly. Security personnel also watch the patterns of gaming, watching how dealers shuffle and deal cards, looking for betting patterns and so on.