A casino is a place where a wide variety of games of chance are played. It also offers a number of other activities that can be enjoyed by patrons who are not interested in gambling. The word “casino” has an interesting etymology, dating back to Italy and originally denoting villas, summerhouses and even social clubs. Today’s casinos are much more elaborate than their predecessors and offer a myriad of entertainment options to draw in customers. These extras include restaurants, free drinks and stage shows. However, they are still primarily places for people to gamble and play games of chance.
A major part of a casino’s revenue comes from the vig, or the house advantage, which is built into most games. This advantage can be quite small, lower than two percent for example, but it adds up over millions of bets and earns the casino billions in profits each year. This income is used to finance such lavish features as lighted fountains, shopping centers and hotels that make many of these casinos feel like indoor amusement parks for adults.
Another way a casino makes money is by comping players. This is a form of reward given to loyal gamblers who spend a lot of time and money at the casino. This reward can be anything from food, beverages and hotel rooms to limo service and airline tickets. The exact amount of the reward is based on the player’s total playing time and stakes placed.
Gambling almost certainly predates recorded history, with primitive protodice (cut knuckle bones) and carved six-sided dice found in archaeological sites around the world. Modern casinos feature a huge variety of games, including poker, blackjack and roulette. The majority of these games are based on chance, but some are more skill-oriented and have a small element of risk.
The casino at the Grand Lisboa in Macau, East Asia’s version of Vegas, lives up to its surface decadence with a massive LED dome covering the top floor, and more than one million LED lights adorning the building. Inside the casino, the atmosphere is swanky, with red-and-gold poker rooms and more than 130 slot machines. There are even regular stage shows and other forms of entertainment for those who don’t enjoy a flutter.
In the United States, the first legal casinos began to pop up in Nevada. They were often run by organized crime groups, but as real estate developers and hotel chains got more interested in the idea, they bought out these mobsters. Mob control of casinos is now a thing of the past, as the threat of federal corruption investigations and the potential for losing a gaming license at the slightest hint of mob involvement keeps most casino owners away from the mafia.
