The word casino is used to describe establishments that offer a wide range of gambling games. Whether they’re large resorts in Las Vegas or small card rooms in towns across the country, successful casinos rake in billions of dollars each year for their owners, shareholders, investors and Native American tribes. Some casinos also feature restaurants, theaters and other entertainment options. While the majority of their profits come from games of chance, some casinos offer skill-based games like blackjack, poker and baccarat.
Gambling is part of almost every culture in the world and some form of gambling has existed since prehistoric times. The precise origins of casino are unknown but the first modern casinos appeared in Europe in the 19th century, changing gambling laws to allow them and offering a variety of luxuries that were previously unavailable to gamblers.
These days casinos are largely places that are designed to attract and keep gamblers by offering them free meals, hotel rooms, show tickets and other perks. But they’re still primarily places that house games of chance and the billions of dollars they make each year comes from those games.
Keeping gamblers in a casino isn’t easy, though. Casinos are heavily guarded with security personnel who spend a lot of time looking over patrons and their actions to catch them cheating or trying to steal. Dealers at table games, for example, watch for blatant palming or marking of cards and dice while pit bosses oversee the overall action on the floor to ensure that everyone is following rules. In addition, casinos have catwalks in the ceiling that allow surveillance workers to look directly down, through one-way glass, on the gaming tables.