The word casino is a portmanteau of two Latin words, cero (“to risk”) and cer
(“to square”). Gambling has been a part of human culture as long as people have had the urge to try their luck. But the modern casino, offering a variety of games under one roof, did not emerge until the 16th century. That was when a gambling craze swept Europe and Italian nobles began hosting social gatherings at venues called ridotti.
The casino business model relies on the fact that most of the games have a built in statistical advantage for the house (lower than two percent). This small percentage of bets is what earns casinos their money and allows them to spend it on fountains, pyramids, towers, and replicas of famous landmarks. The advantage can be as low as 0.5 percent in poker, or as high as 20 percent in roulette.
To minimize the house edge, casinos use a combination of technology and rules. In some cases, betting chips have microcircuitry that enables the casino to monitor them minute-by-minute and alert surveillance personnel of any statistical anomaly; roulette wheels are electronically monitored to detect and warn of any deviation from their expected results; and casino games such as blackjack are played against a live dealer rather than against other players. These activities are supervised by gaming mathematicians and computer programmers who are specialized in game theory. In addition to these technological safeguards, many casinos also employ a physical security force and a specialized department for surveillance operations.