Casino is a large gambling establishment with a variety of games of chance for patrons to gamble on. These include roulette, blackjack, craps, keno and poker. Casinos also often offer dining and entertainment for guests.
Most casinos have high security measures to prevent cheating and stealing, both from collusion between patrons or from employees. Besides cameras, casinos use other technology to oversee gaming activities and to monitor money flows. For example, betting chips with microcircuitry interact with electronic systems to enable casinos to track and record game outcomes. In some cases, casino computers supervise the activities of table dealers and croupiers.
Because of the vast amounts of money handled within a casino, something about gambling (perhaps the presence of large sums of cash) seems to encourage people to try to cheat, steal or scam their way into a jackpot. As a result, casinos spend a lot of time, effort and money on security.
In the 1950s, mobster money began flowing into Nevada casinos, where owners sought funds to finance expansion and renovation in hopes of drawing more Americans. However, the mobsters weren’t satisfied with simply providing the bankroll. They became personally involved in the operations, taking sole or partial ownership of some casinos and threatening casino personnel. Eventually federal crackdowns and the threat of losing their gaming licenses at even the hint of Mafia involvement drove the mobsters out of the business, which was then taken over by real estate developers and hotel chains with deep pockets.