A Casino is a gambling establishment, offering a wide variety of games determined by chance. These games include baccarat, blackjack, poker, roulette, and slot machines. Some casinos also offer a combination of chance and skill-based games.
In the United States, Nevada has the largest concentration of casinos, followed by Atlantic City and then New Jersey. Native American casinos are also growing in number.
Security measures in casinos range from cameras to rules of conduct and behavior. These are designed to prevent both patrons and employees from cheating or stealing, either in collusion or independently. Since large amounts of money are handled within a casino, this is an important consideration. In addition to cameras, most casinos have a high-tech “eye-in-the-sky” system that allows security workers to monitor the entire floor from one room filled with banks of screens.
Besides security, there is also the matter of comping players. Most casinos give free goods or services to people who spend a lot of time playing, such as hotel rooms, meals, tickets to shows and even airline tickets. Ask a casino employee for details.
Gambling is a popular pastime that probably predates recorded history, with primitive dice and cut knuckle bones found in archaeological sites. However, the modern casino, which is a place where people can find a variety of different ways to gamble under one roof, did not develop until the 16th century, when a gambling craze swept Europe and Italian aristocrats held private parties in venues called ridotti.
