A casino is a gambling establishment that houses games of chance and offers customers drinks, food and entertainment. Some casinos offer table games such as baccarat, blackjack and trente et quarante, while others focus on slot machines, video poker and other electronic games. A casino may also have a stage show to attract customers. Casinos have been around for centuries and have largely been associated with Las Vegas, although there are casinos in many other cities and countries.
How casinos make money
Casinos have a built in advantage on most games, referred to as the house edge. The advantage can be very small (less than two percent), but it is enough to give the casino a significant amount of money. Casinos generate profit from this advantage by collecting a percentage of all bets placed. They may also make a profit by taking a fixed fee for each machine played, known as the vigorish or rake.
Casinos attract gamblers by offering perks designed to encourage them to spend more money. These perks are called comps and they include free hotel rooms, meals and tickets to shows. They can also extend to limo service and airline tickets for high rollers. Casinos also use bright lights to entice customers, using more than 15,000 miles of neon tubing along the Las Vegas Strip. Elaborate surveillance systems provide an eye-in-the-sky view of every table and window, and can be adjusted to focus on suspicious patrons.