Underneath the varnish of twinkly lights and free cocktails, casinos stand on a bedrock of mathematics, engineered to slowly bleed their patrons of cash. For years, mathematically inclined minds have tried to turn the tables, employing their knowledge of probability and game theory to exploit weaknesses in a system that should, on paper, be impossible to beat.
But when you stop to think about it, the physics behind casino games is actually fairly simple: The house always wins. That’s why you need to set a limit before you go gambling and remember that it is not real money that you are betting, but rather just the potential for your future earnings. That way you will be in no danger of wasting your life savings on dreams that never come true.
The first thing to understand is that you don’t have to go to Las Vegas or Atlantic City to gamble. Across the country and around the world, there are a variety of legal gambling establishments from which to choose. From the glitz and glamor of the Strip to the illegal pai gow parlors of New York’s Chinatown, there are at least 100 million people who visit casinos every year.
While a large number of these visitors are casual, low-spending gamblers, some are serious players. These tend to be older, more affluent families who have the time and money to play. In 2005, Harrah’s Entertainment found that the average casino gambler was a forty-six-year-old woman from a household with above-average income.
To make gambling profitable, casinos need to draw in a high enough volume of people to cover their expenses and profits. They do this by offering perks such as discounted rooms and buffets and complimentary items like show tickets and drinks. These are called “comps,” and they help keep the casino’s house edge below two percent.
In addition to attracting the right audience, casinos also need to offer games that appeal to them. This is why they have a wide variety of games. They offer everything from the simple and straightforward (like blackjack) to the complicated and complex (like roulette and baccarat). In addition, they also have an extensive range of video poker machines, which are a major source of income for many American casinos.
With so many factors to take into account when ranking casinos, we use a comprehensive methodology to find the best of the best. We analyze 40 different casinos from around the world and score them in six categories: price of entry, hotel, restaurants, reviews, city safety, and airport accessibility. This data is then aggregated to create the final list of the top 10 casinos. We have used this same methodology to create lists of the best casinos in Europe, Asia, and North America. The top 10 casinos in the world are listed below.
