A casino is a place where gambling games are played. Successful casinos bring in billions of dollars each year for the companies, corporations, investors and Native American tribes that own them. State and local governments also reap tax revenues from them. Casinos have a powerful appeal even for those who don’t gamble, as is illustrated by the movie Ocean’s 11. In the real world, however, something about casinos seems to encourage cheating and theft.
Because of this, casinos spend a large amount of time and money on security. They watch every move of the players and are always on the lookout for any suspicious behavior. The most obvious way they do this is to have dealers and pit bosses watch over the games closely. They can easily spot blatant cheating like palming or marking cards.
In addition, they offer high-roller patrons extravagant inducements to keep them gambling for extended periods of time. These often include free spectacular entertainment, luxury accommodations and reduced-fare transportation. They also have comp programs that reward patrons with free or discounted food, drinks and shows or coupons for casino slot play. This helps to maintain a database of frequent visitors and to track trends in gambling patterns.
Some other security measures include using bright and gaudy colors for the floor and wall coverings to keep people alert and on their feet. The use of chips instead of paper cash makes it more difficult for thieves to exchange the chips for real money. And casino floors don’t have clocks on them so that it is harder for people to lose track of time.