Casino – The Gambling House

Casino, which means “gambling house,” refers to establishments that allow you to wager money on games of chance. The games include poker, baccarat, blackjack, craps, roulette and video poker.

While casinos often evoke images of glamorous nightclubs, high-stakes gambling and dazzling spectacles, they are primarily business enterprises. The profits raked in by slot machines, table games and other activities like keno and pai gow poker are the source of billions of dollars in earnings for U.S. casinos each year.

As casino-mania took hold in the United States, organized crime figures poured cash into Reno and Las Vegas to set up a series of gambling houses. But mob investors weren’t content to simply provide the bankroll, and many mobsters became involved in the day-to-day operations of the casinos as well, taking full or partial ownership and influencing the outcomes of games.

Ultimately, legitimate businessmen with deep pockets bought out the mafia moguls and dominated the casino industry. Hotel chains and real estate developers were especially adept at using their wealth to build casinos that appealed to the masses while still making huge profits. Today, mobster descendants may run casinos, but federal crackdowns and the risk of losing a gaming license at even the slightest hint of Mafia involvement keep them at a distance from their old-fashioned, gambling cash cows.

While gambling in some form has existed since the earliest days of recorded history, the modern casino as an integrated entertainment venue with a wide variety of ways to gamble did not develop until the 16th century. The word casino is probably derived from the Italian ridotto, which was a private club where wealthy people could gather and enjoy their favorite pastime. Critics argue that casino revenue represents a shift in spending from other forms of local entertainment and that the cost of treating compulsive gambling addicts more than offsets any economic benefits casinos might bring to communities.