Casino (plural casinos) is a building or room where people can gamble on games of chance. The word is also used as a generic name for the business that operates such establishments, and for the gambling industry in general.
The Bellagio fountain show, the opulent hotel and its lavish surroundings make it one of the most famous casinos in the world. But that’s not the only way to bet big on luck—there are many more ways to win at a casino.
Most games in a casino have a built in statistical advantage for the house, known as the “house edge” or “vigorish.” This small amount of money, earned from all of the bets placed at a casino each year, is what provides profits to enable the construction of fountains, hotels, pyramids and replicas of landmarks.
In addition to their built in advantage, casinos profit from the fact that they attract large numbers of patrons. Some of these are high rollers, who place bets of significant amounts. For this reason, casinos offer these customers extravagant inducements—free spectacular entertainment, reduced-fare transportation and elegant living quarters. In games like poker where patrons play against each other, the casino makes a profit by taking a fixed percentage of the pot, known as the rake.
Slot machines are the economic backbone of American casinos, bringing in a much higher proportion of revenue than any other game. The appeal of these mechanical devices is simplicity—a player inserts cash, pulls a lever or pushes a button and watches the bands of colored shapes roll on reels (actual physical ones or video representations). The game’s popularity may have something to do with its lack of skill-based strategy, but it also may be a result of the simple fact that humans are attracted to lights, noise and movement.
