A casino is a large place with a floor filled with gambling devices and tables. It has food, drinks and entertainment and is often located in a resort. Casinos are a source of fascination for people, especially those who don’t gamble. They inspire movies such as Ocean’s 11 and attract visitors from all over the world.
Casinos are businesses and need to make a profit. They must also manage security, entertainment and food concerns. Many casinos host major entertainers or pay smaller acts to keep patrons entertained and sated between gambling sessions. They also have to monitor how much money each game is making and need to keep an eye on their cash reserves.
As a result, casinos need to use technology for surveillance and security purposes as well as to run their games. Some machines have microcircuitry to track betting patterns, while others have electronic sensors that allow casinos to oversee how much is wagered minute by minute. Roulette wheels are scanned regularly to discover any statistical deviation from expected results. Casinos also employ a number of mathematicians and computer programmers who are called gaming analysts to manage their games.
Because of the risk of fraud and theft, casinos have a lot of security concerns. They need to watch for counterfeit currency, check IDs to make sure that everyone is of legal gambling age and prevent people from cheating on their games. Casinos have cameras and security monitors throughout the building, paper shredders for confidential documents and other security equipment.
