Visiting the world’s biggest casinos is one of those experiences people often include on their bucket lists. These centres of thrill, fun and memory offer a whole package of excitement and are what most people imagine when they think of Vegas, Monaco or Macau.
Modern casino security focuses on physical presence as well as specialized surveillance systems that monitor the entire gambling floor, all tables and even the slot machines with a high-tech eye-in-the-sky. This means that all suspicious activity can be watched and tracked, and if a crime or cheating is committed it will be easy to track down the guilty party.
Every casino game has a built in statistical advantage for the house, which can be quite small but adds up over the millions of bets placed by players each year. This is known as the house edge, and it varies depending on the game and the rules, but the exact number can only be estimated by a professional team of mathematicians or gaming analysts working for the casinos.
Gambling has been part of human culture for millennia, with evidence dating back to 2300 BC in China when wooden blocks were discovered that had markings on them. Dice were in use by 500 AD, and card games came into play in the 1400s, with the first game still played at many casinos – baccarat – arriving shortly afterwards. As the world’s oldest casinos show, people have always been drawn to places where they can try their luck at winning big prizes.
