The casino has long been a staple in American popular culture, from your grandmother’s weekend bus trips to the local strip to the ultra-modern opulence of some of today’s top resort casinos. But while lighted fountains, shopping centers and five-star hotel accommodations add to the fun, a casino’s true heart beat is in its gambling games.
Casinos make money by taking a percentage of each bet placed. The advantage may be a mere two percent, but over time it can add up, as casinos continue to rake in billions of dollars each year for their owners and investors. State and local governments also benefit from gambling profits in the form of taxes, fees and payments to gaming operators.
Gambling in all its forms has been a part of human society for millennia. Archaeologists have discovered dice in China dating back to 2300 BC, while playing cards entered the scene around 500 AD in ancient Rome. More recently, a flurry of gambling booms in America and around the world followed changing laws to permit the construction of casinos on land or on riverboats.
Casinos also employ a variety of technology to improve security and monitor the integrity of games. For example, betting chips with built-in microcircuitry enable casinos to oversee the exact amounts wagered minute-by-minute, and roulette wheels are electronically monitored regularly to discover any statistical deviations that might signal fraud.