A casino is a gambling establishment, which houses various games of chance. Its main attraction is its gaming floor, but casinos also offer restaurants, hotels, events, entertainment, and more. The largest concentration of casinos in the United States is in Las Vegas, followed by Atlantic City and Chicago.

While musical shows, lighted fountains, shopping centers and elaborate hotels lure guests to casinos, most of the billions raked in by casinos each year is made from gamblers betting on their luck in games such as slots, blackjack, roulette, poker, craps, and keno. These games require no skill, but still deliver a rush when the numbers come up in your favor.

The only certainty in gambling is that the casino, not the patron, will win. Every game has a built-in advantage for the house, which can be as low as two percent. This slight mathematical advantage, or “house edge,” earns casinos enough money to build enormous pyramids and towers and fill the Las Vegas skyline with neon signs.

Because the house has a virtual assurance of gross profit, casinos frequently offer big bettors extravagant inducements such as free spectacular entertainment, reduced-fare transportation and hotel rooms, expensive meals, free drinks while gambling, and elegant living quarters. Smaller bettors are offered comps of a lesser value, including reduced-fare transportation and food and drink.

While many people may not like the violence in Casino (which includes scenes of a man’s torture with a vice, De Niro’s character being buried alive in a cornfield and Joe Pesci being shot in the chest while playing a game of baccarat), Scorsese is not using the violence purely for shock value or style. He is faithfully portraying the reality of casino life.