In casinos, players place bets on games of chance or skill. Slot machines, blackjack, poker, roulette and craps are a few of the popular casino games that give casinos their billions in profits every year. In addition to musical shows, lighted fountains and lavish hotels, casinos offer free food, drinks and other perks to the most loyal patrons. These freebies, called comps, are based on how much a player spends and how long they play.
Although the house edge in most casino games is mathematically determined, some gamblers try to beat the system by using knowledge of probability and game theory to improve their chances of winning. These people are referred to as gaming mathematicians or gaming analysts. Some casinos employ in-house gaming analysts, while others outsource this work to outside firms.
Because of the large amount of money handled in a casino, both patrons and staff may be tempted to cheat or steal. This is why casinos invest a lot of time and money into security. In addition to manned security guards, casino floors are covered with cameras that can be adjusted to zoom in on suspicious patrons. More elaborate systems also have a “eye-in-the-sky” feature that lets security workers monitor the entire casino floor at once from a room filled with banks of security monitors.
