A casino is a public room or building where people pay money to play gambling games. It can also refer to the business that operates such rooms. Casinos are usually combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shops, and other entertainment venues. Some casinos are purely gaming establishments; others have live entertainment such as stand-up comedy or concerts.
A number of security measures are employed to protect casino patrons and property. These include surveillance cameras that monitor all areas of the casino floor from a central control room. Often, a special catwalk in the ceiling above the casino floor allows security personnel to look directly down through one way glass at all activities on the tables and slot machines. Casino employees are trained to spot a variety of cheating techniques, such as palming cards or marking dice. In table games, the croupiers are also trained to watch for patterns of betting that may indicate a pattern of cheating.
The biggest casinos in the world are located in glamorous tourist centres and serve as entertainment hubs for locals and international travellers alike. This could be for the pure attraction of the place or because it offers them a taste of luxury and adventure.
As the popularity of casinos grew, organized crime figures became involved. They supplied funds to open and expand some casinos, took sole or partial ownership of others, and influenced the outcomes of games by threatening casino staff. The mob’s connection to the gambling industry gave casinos a reputation for corruption and illegal activities, which was reinforced when several state governments banned them during the 1980s. In the 1990s, a few states legalized casinos, and many American Indian reservations opened their own. Critics argue that the negative economic impact of casinos, such as the shift in spending away from other forms of local entertainment and the cost of treating compulsive gamblers, outweighs any potential profits they bring to a community.
