A casino is an establishment for certain types of gambling. They may be located in areas surrounded by hotels, retail shops and restaurants, or they may stand alone as large building complexes. Casinos are operated by casinos, gaming organizations, or private individuals. They may offer a variety of different games, including poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, and bingo. In addition to providing entertainment, they also make money by charging patrons for entrance and services such as drinks and cigarettes.
Most of the billions in profits raked in by casinos each year come from gambling. While musical shows, lighted fountains and shopping centers help draw in the crowds, casinos would not exist without games of chance such as slots, blackjack, roulette, craps, keno and baccarat. Each game has a built in statistical advantage for the casino, often less than two percent, which earns it enough gross profit to cover operating costs and provide a small percentage to the owners as their share of the action.
In the beginning, mobster money flowed steadily into Reno and Las Vegas, but legal businessmen were reluctant to invest in casinos because of their seamy reputation. Eventually, real estate developers and hotel chains with plenty of cash to burn bought out the mob and established their own casino businesses free from any taint of organized crime ties. The mob’s monopoly ended when federal crackdowns and the threat of losing a casino license for even the slightest hint of mafia involvement drove the criminal elements out of the gambling business.