A casino is a building that serves as an entertainment center and gambling establishment. Its bright lights, musical shows, shopping centers and elaborate hotels lure visitors, but it’s the games of chance that provide the billions in profits raked in by casinos each year. Slot machines, blackjack, roulette, craps and keno all require a certain amount of luck (or skill) but, more importantly, the math always works in favor of the house.
According to the Gemini Research Report published in March 2002, a large percentage of casino gamblers favor slots. They accounted for 50% of all game play while card games such as blackjack and poker were favored by 30%. Other games such as bingo, keno and gambling on sports and racing events only garnered 6% of the total player participation.
Gamblers are often rewarded with complimentary items (also known as comps) for their loyalty and high volume of play. Free hotel rooms, dinners or tickets to shows are some examples of these perks. Casinos have sophisticated systems in place that track and comp players based on their amount of money wagered and number of visits. They also use video cameras and computer systems to monitor their patrons and the games they play.
The casinos’ security begins on the floor, where dealers keep an eye out for blatant cheating. They have a privileged view of all the tables and can spot betting patterns that indicate cheating. They work closely with pit bosses and table managers who are looking for any suspicious behavior.