A casino is a place where people can gamble on games of chance. It is often a place that adds a large number of luxuries to the gambling experience such as restaurants, free drinks and stage shows. However, there are less extravagant places that house gambling activities and would still be considered casinos.
The casino business is very profitable. Each game has a built in advantage for the casino that can be very small, but over time it adds up to millions of dollars in revenue for the casino. This is a large part of the reason that casinos can afford to spend a lot of money on decor and other amenities. Casinos on the Las Vegas strip take this a step further by building hotels, fountains, pyramids and towers that are designed to be awe inspiring.
Something about gambling encourages cheating and stealing, which is why casinos spend so much time, effort and money on security. Casinos use high-tech eye-in-the-sky surveillance systems to watch every table, window and doorway. They can also adjust the system to focus on suspicious patrons. The system is operated by security personnel in a separate room filled with banks of monitors.
Casinos usually reward their good players with free hotel rooms, dinners and tickets to shows. They may even offer limo service and airline tickets. These are called comps. They also give away complimentary items such as hats, T-shirts and coffee mugs. Casinos try to keep their comps as fair as possible.