Gambling and the Casino Industry

A casino is a place where a variety of games of chance can be played and where gambling is the primary activity. While many casinos add luxuries to draw in the customers like restaurants, free drinks, stage shows and dramatic scenery, they would not exist without games of chance, which provide the billions of dollars in profits that casinos rake in every year. While musical shows, lighted fountains and shopping centers help attract gamblers, a casino’s true money maker is the games of chance like poker, blackjack, roulette, craps and video poker.

Gamblers can be tempted to cheat and steal, either in collusion with other patrons or on their own. Because of this, casinos have a wide range of security measures. The most basic are the security cameras located throughout the casino. Another important tool is the casino’s staff. Casino floor employees keep their eyes on the games and patrons to prevent blatant cheating, such as palming or marking cards, and watch for betting patterns that indicate suspicious behavior. Table managers and pit bosses have a broader view of the games and watch for table game cheating, as well.

In addition to these visible measures, casinos also have extensive surveillance systems. Elaborate surveillance systems offer a high-tech “eye-in-the-sky” that allows security personnel to watch the entire casino at once. The system can even be directed to focus on specific suspicious patrons. Some casinos have a separate room filled with banks of security monitors that can be directed to focus on particular tables or rooms.

Another source of casino income is the rake, a percentage of each game’s total bet that the house takes. The rake is typically higher in games where the house has an advantage over the players, such as baccarat and blackjack, and lower in games that require a greater degree of skill, such as poker. In some cases, the rake is shared by both the dealer and the player.

In 2005, the typical casino patron was a forty-six-year-old female from a household with above-average income. Older adults tend to have more vacation time and spending money than other groups of people, so they make up the majority of casino visitors. The casino industry often focuses on attracting these older gamblers and developing loyalty programs that reward them for their business. Casinos may give their frequent gamblers coupons for free slot play, meals or other amenities.

Compulsive gamblers are a serious problem for casinos. They generate a disproportionate amount of casino profits and may drive down the profit margins for all other patrons. Studies show that a casino’s net effect on the economy of a local area is negative, due to the cost of treating problem gamblers and lost productivity from their addiction. Casinos may also harm the value of property in nearby neighborhoods. This is because people living near a casino may shift their spending from other forms of entertainment to the casinos, thereby reducing the profitability of those other businesses.