Casino is a film about greed, corruption and violence. While it does show a little of the softer side of Vegas and some of its characters, the film is mostly about the seedy underbelly of mob controlled Las Vegas. It traces the rise of huge gambling corporations that have replaced mafia control over the city. It also illustrates how casinos have become a magnet for high stakes players who can easily lose everything they have and then some.

Casinos make money by taking a percentage of every bet placed on their games. Typically this is less than two percent, but over billions of bets, it adds up to a huge amount of revenue for the casino. A large portion of this goes to security, which keeps an eye on the casino floor and its patrons. Security personnel are trained to spot blatant cheating like palming, marking or switching cards and dice. They can also see betting patterns that could signal cheating. Casinos use a variety of cameras, including a high-tech “eye-in-the-sky” system that can watch the entire casino at once.

Casinos offer a wide range of activities for their visitors, from bars and restaurants to top-notch hotels and spas. However, they are still primarily places where people gamble on games of chance. There are four things that must come together to make a casino profitable: its popularity, its odds, the player’s skills and pure luck. If any of these are missing, the casino is unlikely to stay in business for long.