What Makes a Casino Special?

There have been a lot of luxuries added to casinos over the years—stage shows, restaurants, free drinks, and dramatic scenery to name just a few. But a casino is just a place that houses gambling activities and, at its core, makes money through the use of luck and chance. And, despite the millions of bets placed each year and billions of dollars raked in by casinos each year, there is one thing that remains a constant: The house always wins.

Gambling is a highly social activity, with people directly interacting with each other at games of dice or cards or indirectly observing the action at table games. In many ways, the social aspect of gambling is what separates it from other forms of wagering, such as Internet gambling or lottery games.

As such, it’s no surprise that casinos are designed around noise and light to stimulate and entice players. Tables are close together and the noise level is often very high, with players shouting encouragement or cheering the roll of a die. The tables are also equipped with cocktail waitresses and nonalcoholic drinks are readily available for patrons.

Security is a major concern in casinos. Because of the huge amounts of cash handled within the confines of a casino, both employees and patrons may be tempted to cheat or steal, either in collusion or independently. To combat this, many casinos implement sophisticated security measures. For example, roulette wheels are monitored electronically to detect any statistical deviation from the expected results and electronic sleuthing is used in poker rooms to watch for a range of potential problems, including palming and marking cards.