A casino is a place where people can gamble and play games of chance. It is a major source of entertainment and income for many countries. Some casinos specialize in particular types of games, while others have a wide variety of them. Usually, the games offered by casinos are regulated by law and have specific rules that must be followed. Almost all casinos have security measures in place to prevent cheating and other criminal activity.
Gambling is believed to have begun in the ancient world, with primitive protodice cut from knuckle bones and carved six-sided dice found in archaeological sites. But the modern casino, a place where people could find a variety of ways to gamble under one roof, did not develop until the 16th century, when a gambling craze swept Europe and Italian aristocrats created private parties known as ridotti, where they would gamble [Source: Schwartz].
The security measures in a casino start with the dealers themselves, who are trained to spot blatant cheating such as palming or marking cards. They also watch for betting patterns that might signal a change in the expected outcome of a game. Casinos also use sophisticated technology to monitor the games themselves: “chip tracking” enables them to see exactly how much money is being wagered minute by minute; roulette wheels are electronically monitored regularly to discover any statistical deviation from their expected results; and slot machines are programmed to produce random numbers that appear as winning combinations.
