A casino is a place for certain types of gambling. It is a facility where roulette, gaming tables for card games and dice, slot machines and other equipment are used to carry out the gambling operations. Modern casinos have a variety of entertainment attractions such as musical shows, lighted fountains and shopping centers to draw in the crowds. But the bulk of the profits for a casino still comes from gambling. Slot machines, black jack, roulette, craps, keno and other games of chance provide the billions of dollars in profit raked in by U.S. casinos every year.
The earliest known casino was the Ridotto, which opened in Venice in 1638. The four-story structure was the first government-sanctioned gambling house and the first to be open to the public. The Ridotto offered high stakes games and a selection of primitive card games, and was a model for subsequent gambling establishments.
Gambling in a casino is legal in many countries. There are more than 1,000 casinos in the United States. Some are large resorts offering a wide range of casino-related activities, while others are smaller, standalone venues with a focus on a particular type of game. The casino industry is regulated at the state and local levels. The largest casino in the world is WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The casino has more than 600,000 square feet of floor space and includes a hotel tower.
In the modern world casinos have dramatically increased the use of technology. In addition to the usual video cameras for security purposes, there are now computer systems that oversee table and machine games. These systems, often called chip tracking or vig monitoring, can track the exact amount of money wagered minute by minute, warn the dealer when a gambler is making an unusual bet and discover any statistical deviation from expected results. Roulette wheels are also regularly monitored electronically to detect any anomalies.
Another way casinos make their money is by raking in the money that compulsive gamblers lose. In fact, studies show that problem gamblers generate 25 percent of a casino’s profits. Some economists contend that this money drain actually offsets any economic gains the casino may bring to a community.
In general, a casino’s built in edge, or advantage, is less than two percent. This advantage, which is the result of the mathematics of the various casino games, gives the casino enough money to pay its bills and maintain the elaborate hotels, fountains, pyramids and towers that have become synonymous with the name. This advantage is referred to as the house edge, vig or rake. The casino vig or rake is the only source of income for the casino and is a major reason why a casino cannot offer players a 100 percent return on investment. Despite this, some people do get lucky and make a lot of money in casinos. They can even turn a casino into a retirement fund.
