A casino is a place where people can play a variety of games of chance. It may have other amenities such as restaurants, free drinks, stage shows and dramatic scenery, but it always revolves around gambling activities. Although gambling probably predates recorded history, casinos as a place for patrons to find a variety of ways to gamble under one roof did not become common until the 16th century when a gambling craze swept Europe. At that time, European aristocrats frequently held private parties called ridotti in which gambling was the primary activity.
The modern casino is a complex facility which makes its money largely by charging for admission to its gambling activities. The billions of dollars which are raked in by casinos every year are mostly from the profits of slot machines, black jack, roulette, craps and keno. Slot machines are the economic backbone of American casinos, and their relatively low house edge (lower than two percent) allows them to attract high volume bettors and generate large amounts of cash.
While the house edge in a casino game is not something which can be changed by player skill or strategy, it has an effect on how much money a casino can make over a long period of time. This is why casino security is such an important aspect of any gambling establishment. Casinos are wired for surveillance systems that allow them to monitor games minute-by-minute and quickly discover any statistical deviation from their expected results. They are also wired with computerized systems that oversee betting chips, allowing them to track the exact amount wagered at a table.
