A casino is an establishment where people can gamble on games of chance or skill, such as blackjack, roulette, baccarat and video poker. In some countries, casinos are licensed and regulated by government agencies. Many casinos are combined with hotels and entertainment venues, and some are even built into cruise ships or theme parks.
While musical shows, lighted fountains and shopping centers help draw in visitors, the vast majority of a casino’s profits come from gambling. Table games like blackjack and poker, slot machines, craps and roulette generate billions in revenue for their owners each year. Casinos also feature other types of gambling, such as keno and bingo, but these are usually limited to patrons who are age 21 or older.
The most famous casino is probably in Las Vegas, but there are numerous others around the country and the world. The largest, in Ledyard, Connecticut, is operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Indian tribe and features 4.7 million square feet of gaming space.
Casinos have a reputation for being glamorous places, but they’re not without their dark side. For example, compulsive gamblers can drain a city of its tax revenues and drive up housing costs by driving away non-gambling families. Economic studies have also shown that casinos do not bring a net benefit to local economies; they simply shift spending from other forms of entertainment and hurt the bottom line of restaurants, retail businesses and property values.
Since large amounts of money are handled in a casino, both employees and patrons may be tempted to cheat or steal. To combat this, casinos employ a variety of security measures. Many casinos have cameras throughout the premises, and some even have high-tech systems that monitor the games themselves. In “chip tracking,” for instance, betting chips have built-in microcircuitry that allows the casino to oversee them minute by minute and warn about any statistical deviations from expected results; roulette wheels are electronically monitored regularly to discover anomalies quickly.
In addition to security personnel, casinos have a number of rules that players must follow. These include not talking while playing, keeping their hands to themselves and wearing clothing that is not offensive or inappropriate for a gambling venue. Casinos are also not allowed to advertise their services in any way that might encourage underage gambling or other illegal activities.
Until the 1990s, many casinos were run by organized crime figures who had plenty of cash from drug dealing and other rackets. However, real estate investors and hotel chains eventually realized that they could make more money running casinos without mob involvement. In fact, mob involvement can sometimes cause a casino to lose its license to operate, so legitimate businessmen were keen on getting involved as early as possible.