What Is a Casino?
A casino, or gaming house, is a place where people can gamble on a variety of games of chance, such as poker, blackjack, and slot machines. Some casinos also offer live entertainment such as stage shows and dramatic scenery. In the United States, casinos are usually located in cities or towns that have legalized gambling. They are also often found on American Indian reservations, which are not subject to state anti-gambling laws. Unlike gambling houses in Europe, where membership is required and clubs are regulated, American casinos operate under private franchises and licenses from local governments.
Casinos are business enterprises, and as such they must make a profit to stay in business. Every game offered in a casino has built-in odds that ensure the house will win, or at least not lose, on most bets placed by patrons. This mathematical advantage, often referred to as the “house edge”, can be quite small – less than two percent of all bets, for example – but over time it will accumulate to earn the casino millions of dollars in gross profits. This advantage is recouped from players through a commission called the vig or the rake, depending on the game.
Besides the obvious physical security measures, like cameras and guards, modern casinos use technology to monitor and verify the games themselves. For instance, casino chips have microcircuitry that enables them to communicate with electronic systems that oversee the amount wagered minute-by-minute and warn the house of any statistical deviation; roulette wheels are electronically monitored on a regular basis for irregularities. In addition, the routines and patterns of casino games create visual clues for security personnel to spot suspicious behavior.