Casino is a place where games of chance are played and money is won or lost. While lavish hotels, stage shows, lighted fountains and shopping centers draw in the crowds, casinos would not exist without games of chance: slot machines, blackjack, roulette, poker, craps and keno provide the billions in profits that bring people to the tables.

Gambling is a social activity, so casinos try to make the atmosphere one of excitement and encouragement. The music is loud and the lights flash, and the staff shouts out encouragement to gamblers as they pass by. Drinks are freely available, and the slots and table games are arranged in a maze-like pattern to draw in wandering patrons. Over 15,000 miles of neon tubing are used to light the casinos along the Las Vegas Strip.

Even though casino gambling has a built-in statistical advantage for the house, it is not uncommon for people to win large amounts of money. To counter this, the casinos offer comps to big spenders: free hotel rooms, meals and tickets to shows. Most casinos also have programs similar to airline frequent flyer cards that track player spending and usage and tally up points for comps.

In order to prevent cheating, tampering and other forms of dishonesty, the casinos employ highly trained security personnel. On the casino floor, security guards watch every action closely and can spot blatantly obvious cheating techniques such as palming or marking cards. The high-tech eye-in-the-sky surveillance systems allow security workers to view the entire floor at once, and they can adjust their focus to zero in on specific suspicious patrons.