A casino is a public place where games of chance are played and gambling is the primary activity. Many casinos also offer restaurants, stage shows and shopping facilities to attract customers. Although musical shows, lighted fountains and elaborate hotels add to the allure of casinos, they wouldn’t exist without the billions of dollars in profits raked in by games such as slot machines, blackjack, roulette, craps, keno and poker.

Because large amounts of money are handled inside casinos, it is possible that patrons or employees may attempt to cheat or steal, either in collusion or independently. This is why casinos spend a large amount of time, effort and money on security. Typical security measures include cameras placed throughout the facility, with the ability to be focused on specific areas at the push of a button; table managers and pit bosses watch each game with a hawk eye, making sure patrons aren’t stealing from each other or changing chips; and electronic systems keep track of betting patterns at table games to ensure that they conform to statistical expectations.

In addition to these technological safeguards, casinos also employ a number of psychological tricks to make it difficult for patrons to realize how long they have been playing and how much money they’ve spent. For example, windows and clocks are often absent from casino floors to prevent players from realizing how much time they’ve spent there; and games like baccarat are designed to allow patrons to lose large sums of money quickly.