A casino is a gambling establishment that offers the opportunity for people to gamble. Casinos can have a wide variety of games, from slots to poker to blackjack. Some casinos even have shows and restaurants. However, the vast majority of casino profits come from gambling itself.
Something about gambling—perhaps the large amounts of money involved—incentivizes both patrons and staff to cheat or steal, either in collusion or independently. Therefore, most casinos invest a lot of time, money and effort on security. Elaborate surveillance systems offer a high-tech “eye-in-the-sky” that can monitor all the activities of all the tables in a casino at once. The cameras can be adjusted to focus on suspicious patrons by security workers in a separate room filled with banks of secure monitors.
Casino employees also keep their eyes peeled for blatant cheating and suspicious betting patterns. Table managers and pit bosses are trained to spot players who try to mark or palm cards, switch dice or change the outcome of a game. The pit bosses also oversee the craps and baccarat tables, where patrons bet against each other instead of the house.
To increase their profits, casinos rely on comps—free goods or services given to loyal patrons. Guests who spend a lot of time and money in the casino are eligible for free hotel rooms, dinners, tickets to shows and limo service. In addition, casino players who play a lot of slot machines may be given a free luxury suite if they spend enough time at the tables or the amount of money they bet.