A casino is a place where people can gamble and play games of chance. The word is derived from the Latin casinus, meaning “house of chance.” Casinos add other luxuries to lure gamblers, such as restaurants, free drinks and stage shows, but the vast majority of their profits are based on gambling. Slot machines, blackjack, roulette, craps and other casino games provide the billions of dollars in profits that casinos rake in each year.
Casinos rely on the mathematical expectancy of their games to ensure gross profit, and it is very rare for a casino to lose money on a single day of gambling. The house edge is a built-in advantage that is built into the rules of each game. Casinos also offer comps to their most loyal patrons, ranging from free spectacular entertainment and restaurant food and drink to hotel rooms, limousine service and airline tickets.
A high-tech eye-in-the-sky surveillance system watches every table, window and doorway of the casino from a control room filled with banks of security monitors. Dedicated casino employees sift through the video feed to spot suspicious behavior such as card counting, dice throwing and betting patterns that could indicate cheating. The surveillance systems can be adjusted to focus on specific areas of the casino. Observers also keep an eye on casino patrons to make sure they are not engaging in any blatant illegal activities, such as palming or marking cards. Observers may also call out cheaters or liars from their observation booths.