A casino is a place where people can play games of chance for money. Although lighted fountains, musical shows and themed hotel rooms help draw visitors, casinos would not exist without games of chance like slot machines, blackjack, poker and roulette. These games generate the billions in profits that casinos rake in each year.
Throughout history, gambling has been illegal in many places and it took a long time for casino gaming to become legalized. Once it did, casinos sprang up across the United States and the world. Often, they were built on the backs of existing resorts or sat next to major tourist attractions.
Modern casinos are designed with security in mind. Most have a physical security force and a specialized surveillance department. The specialized department runs the cameras that are all over the casino, known in the industry as “the eye in the sky.” These cameras can be focused on suspicious patrons by security personnel who are in a separate room filled with banks of monitors.
Something about gambling (maybe it’s the promise of huge jackpots) encourages some people to try to cheat, steal or bribe their way into winning. This can be a big problem for casinos, and they spend a lot of money and effort on security. In addition to sophisticated security cameras, casinos employ staff who watch patrons, listen for complaints and read lips and scout for body language. This information is all fed into a computer that can alert security if anything out of the ordinary occurs.
