When people think of casino, they often imagine Las Vegas or Chicago, but gambling is found in smaller places too. A successful casino brings in billions of dollars each year for the companies, investors, and Native American tribes that own them. It also benefits state and local governments that levy taxes and fees on gaming revenues.
Casinos attract customers by offering them perks designed to encourage them to spend more money. For example, some casinos provide free meals and drinks. Others offer discounted travel packages or free show tickets. During the 1970s, some Las Vegas casinos even paid people to gamble there, using the promotion as part of an overall strategy to maximize gambling revenue. The perks are known as comps.
While all casino games involve some degree of chance, most have mathematically determined odds that give the house a long-term edge over players, or a negative expected value (also called vigorish). Gamblers who can use skill to reduce this advantage are known as advantage players.
The gambling industry has been shaped by technological innovations, particularly the introduction of computerized systems to monitor and control casino activities. These technologies include “chip tracking,” which records and analyzes the movements of betting chips minute by minute to prevent fraud; and “roulette wheel monitoring” which electronically monitors each roulette wheel to discover any statistical deviations from normal operation.
