A casino is a gambling establishment that offers a variety of table and slot games. These games are played both in massive resort casinos and in smaller card rooms, as well as on cruise ships and on land at racinos (racetrack-type gaming facilities). Some states have legalized casino-type game machines at select truck stops, bars, and other small businesses.
A successful casino earns billions of dollars a year for the companies, investors, and Native American tribes that own and operate them. They also generate millions of dollars for the cities, states, and countries that host them. Casinos also employ thousands of people around the world, a number that is always growing.
Casinos have many security measures to prevent cheating and theft by patrons and employees alike. They use cameras to watch over the tables and machines, as well as to monitor the crowds. Dealers are trained to look for blatant palming, marking, and switching of cards or dice. The casino’s pit bosses and table managers are also able to spot suspicious betting patterns, and they regularly report their results to the highest-level management.
In the past, organized crime figures funded some of the early Nevada casinos, supplying cash to maintain the luster of their glitzy exteriors and to attract more Americans to Reno and Las Vegas. However, legitimate businessmen soon realized the potential profits from casinos. Real estate developers and hotel chains began to invest their money in casinos, and mobster involvement diminished as the federal government cracked down on racketeering. Today’s casinos are often opulent, such as the Grand Lisboa in Macau, which is the world’s tallest building and features a dome that lights up with more than a million LEDs.