A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Often, casinos combine gaming with hotels, restaurants, shopping centers and other forms of entertainment. Some of the more famous casinos are in Las Vegas, although there are many other gaming establishments throughout the United States and the world.
Casinos earn billions of dollars in profits each year from gamblers who play games like slots, blackjack, poker and roulette. These games have a built in mathematical advantage for the casino that can be very small (less than two percent). But, these advantages add up over time and are enough to allow casinos to build hotels, fountains, giant pyramids and replicas of famous landmarks.
Something about the combination of large amounts of money and the excitement of gambling encourages cheating, stealing and other illegal activities in casinos. As a result, casinos have extensive security measures in place. Security is usually divided between a physical security force and a specialized surveillance department. The physical security force patrols the casino and responds to calls for assistance or reports of suspicious or definite criminal activity. The surveillance department operates a system that is sometimes referred to as an eye in the sky, where video cameras can be focused on a specific table or other area of the casino at any time.
Casinos also reward frequent players with comps, which are free goods or services. These can include food and drinks, hotel rooms, limo service or even airline tickets. This helps to keep patrons coming back, and minimizes their awareness of the passing of time while they are playing.