A casino is an establishment that offers gambling opportunities. It can include a wide variety of games of chance, such as craps, roulette, baccarat and blackjack, as well as electronic slot machines. Some casinos offer more than others, but all of them are designed to bring in customers by providing entertainment and making profits from the billions of dollars that patrons gamble with each year.
In the twenty-first century, casinos are choosier about whom they accept as customers. They focus their investments on people who gamble heavily and spend a lot of money, offering them special perks that make it worth their while to come in and play. These perks, which are known as comps, can include free shows, hotel rooms and even luxury suites.
Modern casinos have a security force that patrols the facility and a specialized surveillance department, which runs a closed circuit television system (known as an eye in the sky) to monitor the casino. These departments work closely together, coordinating their efforts to prevent criminal activity and alerting each other when suspicious or certain types of gambling are taking place.
Gambling has become a major industry worldwide. In the United States alone, 51 million people—a quarter of the population over 21—visited a casino in 2002. While musical shows, lighted fountains and shopping centers help draw visitors, casinos would not exist without the games of chance. Slots, poker, blackjack and other table games provide the billions of dollars that people gamble with each year.