When you hear the word Casino, chances are you think of a glamorous, exciting place to gamble. In fact, casinos do more than just offer gambling opportunities, they also have spectacular entertainment and hotel suites to attract guests from all over the world. These casinos also offer a wide range of restaurants and bars to keep visitors fueled for the big game.
Casinos were first built to offer patrons a variety of ways to gamble under one roof. Gambling probably predates recorded history, with primitive protodice and carved six-sided dice found in ancient archaeological sites. But the casino as we know it today did not develop until the 16th century when a gambling craze swept Europe and Italian aristocrats started opening private clubhouses called ridotti for social events, where they could play their favorite games of chance [Source: Schwartz].
While casinos may have many entertainment elements to draw in tourists like acrobatic performers, lighted fountain shows and shopping centers, they would not be successful without the millions of dollars of profit generated by games of chance. Slot machines, blackjack, roulette and baccarat are just some of the popular games that provide the billions of dollars in profits casinos earn every year.
While the house edge of each individual game is mathematically determined and gives the casino a guaranteed gross profit, casinos routinely reward large bettors with extravagant inducements such as free spectacular entertainment, transportation, luxury living quarters and other rewards. Casino surveillance systems are sophisticated, with cameras in the ceiling that can be adjusted to focus on specific suspicious patrons from a separate room filled with banks of security monitors. Neither windows nor clocks are allowed on the casino floor to prevent players from losing track of time and money while gambling.
