A Casino is a public place where games of chance are played and gambling is the primary activity. Some casinos add luxuries like restaurants, stage shows and dramatic scenery to attract patrons and provide them with a high-class entertainment experience. While the idea of a casino has certainly existed since ancient times, with primitive protodice and carved six-sided dice found at archaeological sites, the modern concept did not emerge until the 16th century with the rise of a gambling craze in Europe.
The modern casino has a built-in advantage for the house, which is calculated into the odds on each game. Although this advantage is very small compared to the millions of bets placed each year, it allows casinos to make money. This is also known as the vig or rake. Most casino games involve a certain amount of skill, and players who can eliminate the house edge are referred to as advantage players.
Due to the large amounts of cash handled within a casino, staff and patrons may be tempted to cheat or steal, in collusion or independently. To help prevent this, most casinos have security measures in place. These include a variety of cameras throughout the property, which are monitored in a room filled with banks of security monitors by casino employees. These high-tech eye-in-the-sky systems can be adjusted to focus on suspicious patrons and can even detect if someone is hiding a marker or changing the odds on a hand of blackjack.