A casino is an establishment for certain types of gambling. Some casinos are standalone facilities, while others are combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships or other tourist attractions. The casino industry is booming, and there are many different types of gambling products on offer. The most popular are slot machines, table games and poker.
Under the varnish of flashing lights and free drinks, casinos are built on a bedrock of mathematics. Every game has a specific probability against players winning, and this gives the house an edge that helps it to slowly bleed patrons of their hard-earned cash. But for years, mathematically inclined people have tried to use their knowledge of probability and game theory to beat the house.
It’s easy to lose track of time in a casino. There are no clocks visible on the floor, and windows are usually blocked out so that players don’t see their watch running down. Casinos want you to stay and gamble for as long as possible, and they do everything they can to encourage it.
Few movies do a better job of showing the dark side of Las Vegas than Casino, Martin Scorsese’s epic tale of greed, murder and betrayal. While the movie is definitely over-the-top in some ways – the torture of De Niro’s character, the attempted murder of Sharon Stone and the buried body of Joe Pesci’s character are all very real and shocking – it is also a compelling story about how the mafia lost control of the city.