When most people think of a Casino, they imagine one of the giant resorts in Las Vegas, a place that is filled with neon lights and games of chance. However, Merriam Webster’s definition of a Casino is much more encompassing than that. A Casino is any public building where a wide variety of games of chance can be played and where gambling is the primary activity. Many casinos offer more than just gambling, including restaurants, free drinks and stage shows.
Like any business in a capitalist society, casinos are designed to make money. Each game that they offer has a built in mathematical advantage for the casino. While that advantage can be very small, over time it can add up to significant profits. In addition to this, the casino industry makes billions each year from taxes and fees on its patrons.
To maximize profit, casinos are designed to be as attractive as possible to potential gamblers. Slot machines are programmed by computers to be appealing to the senses of sight and sound. They are designed with bright colors and bells, and the machine noises are electronically tuned to a musical key that is pleasing to the human ear.
To help control the amount of money that is lost to gambling, casinos employ a number of security measures. Security starts on the floor of the casino, where employees constantly monitor patrons to make sure they are behaving appropriately and not cheating or stealing. In addition, the floors are wired to a central server where statistical deviations are noted immediately.